An explosion caused by country crackers illegally stored in a house at Purathakudi near Vaiyampatti brought down the entire structure and damaged a few tiled houses close by.
There was no casualty, though three persons including an eight-month-old male baby sustained injuries in the impact of the blast.
Police sources said country crackers used for festivities and kept in the first floor of the house, belonging to the sister of Mani alias Rajarathinam, suddenly went off at around 2 p.m. triggering panic among neighbours.
The inmates of the house in which the crackers were illegally manufactured and stored were away when the blast occurred.
Such was the impact of the blast that bricks from the damaged structure fell on the roofs of nearby tiled houses. The roofs of over 10 houses suffered damage causing injuries to R. Arokiaselvi (28), her kid Kavin, and Arokiam (60).
While the mother and the child were later referred to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi, Arokiam is undergoing treatment at Government Hospital in Manapparai.
Licence
A senior police officer said licence had not been obtained for manufacturing the crackers which were illegally stored in the house. Police are on the look out for Mani. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
Based on information, police personnel who had gone in search of Mani earlier in the day returned back unable to locate him.
Police sources said Mani had illegally stocked the explosive substances in his sister’s concrete house nearby.
Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad personnel attached to Tiruchi City Police inspected the blast scene for nearly two hours and recovered some quantities of potassium nitrate, aluminium nitrate, sulphur, gun powder and crackers. Scientific experts also inspected the scene later. Collector Jayashree Muralidharan and Superintendent of Police Lalitha Lakshmi inspected the spot.
The occupants of the damaged houses were accommodated in a nearby school and arrangements made to feed them. Vaiyampatti police has registered a case.
