The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Cracker blast: bodies recovered from drain

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Saturday, Jul 19, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Cracker blast: bodies recovered from drain

Staff Reporter

Poclain drivers notice cash bundles and gold ornaments and hand them over to the victims

VISAKHAPATNAM: The impact of the firecracker blast, which triggered the building collapse, could be judged from the fact that some of the bodies were thrown away into the drain that was about 20 feet away from the house.

The bodies of Ch. N. Murali, 50, and his wife Ch. Jayalakshmi, 40, were found in the drain. Krishna Murthy, husband of Chandravathi, whose body was the first to be recovered on Thursday evening, is safe. Ch. Malathi died in the blast and her body was located in the early hours of Friday.

Her husband Nagesh, 40, is also safe. These two men were away from their house when the blast occurred.

The other bodies retrieved were that of Ch. Rajani, 40, Ramya, 6, (daughter of Malathi) and Neelima, 4, (daughter of Chandravathi). The body parts of Pydiraju lay scattered in the rubble and were retrieved around 4 p.m.

One of the poclain drivers noticed some cash bundles and gold ornaments in the rubble.

The cash was handed over to the victims in the presence of the authorities.

Venkatalakshmi, who was staying in a house close to the collapsed building, was severely injured after she was hit by some object under the impact of the blast. She was admitted to a private hospital at Railway New Colony.

Magisterial probe

Meanwhile, Minister for Commercial Taxes Konathala Ramakrishna met the kin of the victims and consoled them.

He announced that a magisterial enquiry would be conducted into the cause of the accident based on which the compensation would be decided.

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