At least seven people including five women were killed and 10 others injured in a major blast in a cracker factory in Indian state of Punjab, officials said on Sunday.

The blast took place Saturday inside a cracker factory in a residential area of village Khojipur in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.

"Seven people were charred to death in this blast. The blast was so powerful that it blew the roof of the factory and the inferno from the house spread to five neighboring houses," a government official said in a telephone interview.

According to Indian media reports, the cracker factory was operating illegally.

The injured were admitted in hospitals of Gurdaspur and Amritsar for treatment.

The police personnel and fire tenders rushed to the spot to retrieve the bodies of the deceased and the injured trapped underneath the debris.