In a fire accident reported in a private fireworks unit in Thiruvengadam block near Sankarankovil in Tenkasi district, at least 40 two-wheelers were destroyed and 23 sheds were gutted on Saturday.
Police and Fire and Rescue Department officials and fire fighters rushed to the spot with fire tenders from Sankarankovil, Kazhugumalai and Virudhunagar districts. Over 50 fire-fighters were deployed.
Initial inquiries revealed that the private unit belonged to Venkatramani of Virudhunagar district. He had given it on lease to Radhakrishnan of Sindhurajapuram in Sivakasi, revenue officials said and added that the unit had licence from the authorities concerned and manufactured fancy variety crackers.
Over 100 workers were present and had gone out for lunch during which time, the fire accident had started at one of the sheds. While the exact reason was not known immediately, the fire fighters said that they had a tough time to put out the blaze as the thick smoke inside the sheds had slowed down the operation.
The head count by the contractor showed that there were no casualty, but the fire fighters said that they would not be able to ascertain about the casualty immediately as the smoke was emanating from many sheds. Thiruvengadam police have registered a case. Tenkasi RDO Kavita, MLA Raja and other officials supervised the operation.
