BLAST IN TUITION CENTRE, 28 HURT

SRINAGAR: Twenty-eight students were injured on Wednesday in a powerful but mysterious explosion in a tuition centre in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, triggering clashes between civilians and security personnel. The tuition-cum-coaching centre was being run in a private school near Kakapora town, about 30 km from Srinagar. Doctors at Pulwama District Hospital said they received 17 students with injuries and six among these were referred to Srinagar for specialised treatment. Javed Ahmed, the teacher who escaped unhurt while teaching the Class 10 students, could not recall what really happened. "There was a deafening explosion after which hell broke loose inside the classroom," he said. "Honestly, I have no idea how many students were injured." The police said they were yet to establish how or why the blast took place. An earlier unconfirmed report said the explosion took place when one of the students was fiddling with a grenade he was carrying.