Indian gas explosion kills 44

New Delhi - At least 44 people were killed on Saturday after a suspected gas explosion ripped through a restaurant in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a police official said.

Another 75 people were injured, an official in Jhabua district police control room told Reuters.

Police suspect the blast, which occurred about 800km South of New Delhi, was caused by a gas cylinder exploding in the restaurant.

Television footage showed a collapsed building and people searching for bodies in the rubble.