PURI: Three people were injured after a suspected gas cylinder explosion at a hotel on the Grand Road in Puri on Thursday. The injured were initially rushed to the Puri district headquarters hospital for treatment, following which three of them were referred to private hospitals in Bhubaneswar due to their condition.The injured have been identified as Pappu Swain (26), Prashant Sarkar (35) and security guard Sukanta Pradhan (50).The explosion was so powerful that thick black smoke engulfed the area in front of the hotel, plunging it into darkness for a brief period and triggering panic in the locality.Puri SP Prateek Singh visited the spot and initiated an investigation. The exact cause is yet to be ascertained. Police have examined the hotel’s CCTV footage as part of the investigation.The restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel had remained closed for the past two months due to the lack of proper drainage facilities. It was scheduled to reopen in three days. Preparations for the reopening had begun on Thursday, with a puja performed at the premises in the morning. An agent from a gas agency had also visited the hotel to provide a fresh gas connection. The explosion reportedly occurred while the gas connection was being installed.Fire officer Prabhat Rout said preliminary information suggests that a flash fire during the gas connection process could have triggered the explosion. However, the exact sequence of events is yet to be established.The hotel was closed at the time of the incident, and no customers were present or injured. The restaurant was scheduled to resume operations after a few days.