Grand Baie (Mauritius), July 25 (Reuters): An explosion at a tourist resort on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius that killed two people and injured 13 today may have been caused by gas cylinders, a government minister said.

The blast in the resort of Grand Baie tore through a two-storey building housing restaurants, bars and shops at about 1:45 a.m. (2145 GMT), causing part of the top floor to collapse.

“We believe that it could be due to the explosion of gas cylinders. We hope it is something like that,” Anil Bachoo, minister of public infrastructure and transport, said while inspecting the scene.

“We don’t think it’s a terrorist attack as we don’t have terrorists in Mauritius,” he said. He expected an investigation by forensic experts to be finished within 48 hours. Scores of soldiers helped civilians and police officers remove debris from the site while helicopters buzzed overhead after the blast, which killed a local man and woman in their mid-twenties.

Police said the building had been evacuated. Four of the injured, all believed to be locals, were taken to hospital.

Prime Minister Paul Berenger visited the site, as did officials from the US embassy.

Tourism is one of the main economic pillars on the tiny island of 1.2 million people, strategically situated between Africa and Asia.

The country has no history of attacks on tourist sites and markets itself as safe for visitors, but the US issued a travel advisory in March warning of a possible terrorist threat on the island and in the east African region.

Over 700,000 tourists visited the island’s white sand beaches last year, which lie some 4,000 km east of South Africa, bringing in almost $750 million in revenue.

Mauritius is also a major regional banking centre and the world’s seventh largest sugar exporter. It plans to turn itself into a “cyber island” information technology hub linking Asian software expertise with Africa.