Four persons were killed, three on the spot when gelatin sticks that were stocked in a storeroom of a stone quarry, exploded on Monday afternoon. The stone quarry is said to belong to Jagmohan Reddy and Jagadish of Kurgodu village in Bellary taluk. “The reason for the blast cannot be ascertained immediately. Experts from the bomb squad would be pressed into service,” Chandragupta, Superintendent of Police, who visited the spot, told The Hindu .
Though the quarry has been functioning with a valid licence, the stock of gelatin sticks might have been stored illegally, sources said. The intensity of the blast was indicative of how big a stock may have been kept in the makeshift storeroom.
According to sources, the accident occurred when the gelatin sticks, said to have been brought from Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, was being dumped in the storeroom.
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The police identified the victims as Mahadeva, Doddabasava and Karibasappa, who died instantaneously, and Nagaraj, who succumbed to his injuries at the VIMS Hospital later in the evening.