Pathankot (Punjab), March 1 (IANS) Two people were killed and one was seriously injured here after an old shell exploded in the shop of a scrap dealer Monday afternoon, the police said.

The accident occured in the Mamun Cantonment area when some people were trying to dismantle an old shell to extract the metal in order to sell it.

'Most of the shops in the area were closed on account of Holi but Madan Lal, one of the two who died, had opened his shop and was trying to break open the shell. It suddenly exploded and he and another person were killed on the spot while another person has been taken to a private hoispital here,' said district police chief Bhupinderjit Singh Virk.

'The impact and sound of the explosion was so loud that the glass panes of the neighbouring shops were also damaged. We have registered a case and started our investigation,' he added.

Pathankot town is around 280 km from the state capital Chandigarh.