At least four women died in a powerful explosion at a firecracker factory in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha district on Monday, officials said.

Several others have also been injured in the explosion, officials added.

The blast occurred in the Atrasi Kalan area under the jurisdiction of the Rajabpur police station.

According to eyewitnesses, the explosion was so intense that the bodies of some of the victims were severely mutilated, with body parts strewn across the site, creating a horrific scene.

Panic and chaos gripped the locality immediately after the explosion, with terrified residents rushing out of their homes.

Fire and rescue personnel launched an immediate relief and rescue operation.

Local police, along with senior officers, including the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), reached the site to take control of the situation.

The Indian Coast Guard’s (ICG) fifth Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV), in a series of eight under construction, was launched in Goa on Monday, a Defence Ministry official said.

Built at a cost of Rs 473 crore, the vessel named ‘Achal’ measures 52 metres in length and 8 metres in breadth, with a displacement of 320 tonnes. Powered by a controllable pitch propeller (CPP)-based propulsion system, the vessel can reach a top speed of 27 knots, said the official.

The vessel was ceremoniously launched by Kavita Harbola in the presence of Coast Guard Commander (Western Seaboard), Additional Director General Anil Kumar Harbola.

Designed and constructed under dual-class certification from the American Bureau of Shipping and Indian Register of Shipping, the FPV features over 60 per cent indigenous content, said an official statement.

At least five people died and several others were injured in a tragic road accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district on Monday, officials said.

The incident involved a head-on collision between a car and a bike near Nanoura village in the Srinagar police station area of Mahoba district.

According to Circle Officer Ravikant Gond, the accident occurred when a car, reportedly travelling at high speed, lost control after one of its tyres burst and collided head-on with an oncoming motorcycle. The impact of the crash was devastating.

All three individuals riding the motorcycle -- residents of Kulpahar in Mahoba -- died on the spot. The car’s driver and one of its passengers also succumbed to their injuries.

The three other occupants of the car sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the district hospital for treatment.

Three people were injured on Monday in a mysterious explosion during the demolition of a mosque in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

Officials said that three persons sustained injuries after the explosion, which occurred during the demolition of an old mosque structure at Langate Handwara area in the district.

“The blast occurred while local residents were building a mosque as part of its reconstruction process. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, leaving three individuals injured on the spot. The injured were immediately shifted to the sub-district hospital Langate, where one injured was shifted to the government medical college Handwara for specialised treatment," said the officials..

A bomb threat call to India’s spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR at Sriharikota in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh sent security agencies into a tizzy on Monday.

Security personnel at the high-security Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota Range (SDSC SHAR) and the Tirupati district police went on high alert following a call received about the bomb threat to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) facility.

The phone call was reportedly made to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Centre at Chennai in neighbouring Tamil Nadu around midnight. This prompted a large-scale check in and around the SHAR centre.

CISF and police teams searched the premises and its surroundings. The Indian Coast Guard also launched a simultaneous search along the coast.

After the second black box, which is a critical component in determining the cause of the crash, was recovered, the investigators have intensified the probe in the Air India crash case.

The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), commonly referred to as the second black box, was retrieved from the cockpit section of the wreckage.

This comes days after the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) was recovered from the tail end of the aircraft. The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) captures all audio inside the cockpit, including conversations between pilots, radio transmissions, alarm sounds, and any background noise in the final moments before a crash.

It is a crucial tool for investigators, as it helps reconstruct the crew’s decision-making, identify possible human errors or mechanical warnings, and determine the sequence of events that led to an aviation incident.

At least four people were killed and 10 others were seriously injured after a pickup van overturned in Bihar’s Saran district early Monday morning, officials said.

The accident occurred around 7 a.m. on Monday near Bajitpur village, within the Nayagaon police station limits. One of the vehicle’s tyres burst, causing the driver to lose control.

The van, carrying around 25 passengers, was reportedly travelling at a speed of 70-80 km/h.

According to police, the group was on its way from Dighwara to Sarai in Vaishali district via Sonpur to roast corn when the mishap took place.

Sonpur Range SDPO said rescue operations were launched immediately after receiving the information.

“We recovered the bodies trapped inside the overturned vehicle. The deceased were sent for post-mortem at Sadar Hospital, Chhapra. The injured have been admitted to the Sub-Divisional Hospital in Sonpur, with some in critical condition,” he said.

A devastating fire broke out at a busy marketplace in the Khidirpur area of South Kolkata, West Bengal, early Monday morning, gutting over 1,300 shops. No casualties have been reported so far.

A total of 20 fire tenders are already on the spot trying to bring the fire under control. An official of the state fire services department present at the spot said the fire had been brought under control to a great extent and to the point that it would not spread further.

“However, the problem that is now being faced by the fire-fighters is identifying the hidden 'fire pockets' and bringing them under control, following which it could be said that the situation is totally under control. After the task of identifying and deactivating the hidden ‘fire-pockets’ is over, the cooling process will start,” the fire department official said.

As the monsoon has become active, the Meteorological Department said the intensity of rains will increase throughout the day on Monday and issued alerts for various regions of Maharashtra.

It has issued a red alert in Raigad district, orange alert in Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune ghat section, Satara ghat section, Kolhapur ghat section and yellow alert in Mumbai, Palghar, Thane, Nashik ghat section, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli.

The weather bureau has predicted thunderstorms with lightning likely in Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Washim, Yavatmal, Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its post on X said, “The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a warning of heavy rains in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Mumbai city and suburbs) for next three hours. For help in an emergency or for official, contact the BMC’s main control room helpline number 1916.”

Three children from a family in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district have died after reportedly being poisoned by their parents, who are currently undergoing treatment in critical condition at a community health centre in Pakhanjur.

The tragic incident is believed to have occurred late at night in PV-70 village, part of the Pankhajur settlement under the jurisdiction of the Partapur police station.

A senior police officer told that the authorities were alerted early on Saturday morning about the family's suicide bid.

By the time officials arrived, the three children had already died, and the parents were rushed to hospital.

“Both parents remain unconscious, making it difficult for police to determine the cause of the incident. Once the parents regain consciousness, investigators hope to gather more information.