A 13-year-old boy dies after an iron pipe explodes in Phagwara

A 13-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries following an explosion in an iron pipe here, police said on Sunday.

The blast took place on Saturday when two minor children were filling potash in an iron pipe on the roof of a house in Sham Nagar here on the occasion of Dussehra, they said.

Powdered potassium is filled into the hole of an iron pipe and then another iron rod is pressed into it to create a firecracker sound.

The boys Ashish, 13, and Aman, 14, were first taken to the civil hospital here from where they were shifted to a private hospital, police station inspector said of the city, Amandeep Nahar.

Ashish was later referred to a hospital in Amritsar where he succumbed to his injuries, he added.