Eleven persons, including 10 women, were killed and seven injured in an explosion at a cracker-making unit at Vakatippa, a tiny coastal village about 25 km from here, on Monday.
Residents of Vakatippa, Uppada Kothapalli and nearby villages heard the ear-splitting sound of the explosion around Monday afternoon and then saw thick clouds of smoke emanating from Manikanta Fireworks, a workshop where firecrackers were being made unauthorisedly and located amidst a coconut grove in the village.
The two sheds of the unit were completely destroyed and the fire personnel extricated the bodies from the debris after putting out the fire. Villagers, with the help of the fire personnel, rescued seven persons who sustained burns and rushed them to hospital where the condition of five was stated to be critical.
Fire engulfed the two huge sheds when residents living in the neighbourhood alerted fire services personnel over telephone. Four fire tenders worked continuously for over two hours to bring the fire under control.
According to the eyewitnesses, there were at least 35 persons, including daily labourers and customers, at the workshop when the explosion occurred. Some of them ran into the farm fields after hearing the sound of the explosion. “The exact number of the deceased is more than the number cited by the officials. They were able to give the details of only 18 out of 35 persons who were there in the workshop at the time of the incident,” said Dasari Satyanarayana, a rights activist from the nearby Subbampeta village, who took part in the rescue operation.
It is suspected that the explosion took place due to a fire in a bundle of crackers that were piled up and stored for Diwali sale. An official from the Fire Services Department, who did not want to be named, said going by the intensity of the explosion there was a huge quantity of crackers in the workshop.
The fire personnel spotted extinguishers in the workshop. The two-decade-old workshop is known for delivering crackers round the year and the production and sales were quite high during the Diwali season. “During the preliminary inquiry, we found that the licence of the workshop expired in March this year and it seems no effort has been made for its renewal,” said B.R. Ambedkar, Revenue Divisional Officer. Home Minister N. Chinna Rajappa visited the spot and consoled the family members of the deceased.
