Doha: Two Keralites were among twelve killed in a gas tank explosion at a Turkish restaurant in the Qatari capital off Doha on Thursday.
The blast tore through the restaurant, which is attached to a mall in Doha and next to a petrol station, according to footage aired on Qatar Television.
"It was a huge explosion," public security chief Major General Saad bin Jassim al-Khleifi told a press conference, adding that the gas tank had caught on fire before it exploded.
Footage showed paramedics carrying a covered body past rubble strewn some 50 metres (yards) from the building, whose roof had caved in.
And pictures posted on Twitter showed several damaged cars.
A witness said police had cordoned off the area, and firefighters were busy clear debris.
In a May 2012 blaze at a kindergarten in a major Doha shopping mall, 19 people died, including 13 children.