One person was killed and six others injured in a blast at a country-made cracker unit on South Car Street here on Tuesday.
The dead person was identified as Dhanasekaran, owner of the unit.
The injured, including two schoolgirls, have been admitted to the Dindigul Government Hospital.
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The stock of crackers went off suddenly when Dhanasekaran was opening the shop in the morning. The casualty was less because several shops on the road were closed. There are more than 15 cracker sales centres attached with stock rooms on this road, one of the busiest areas in the town.
The impact of the blast was huge and the sound heard around a 1.5 km radius in the town. The blast reduced the cracker unit to rubble. Window panes of nearby houses and offices were smashed, parapet of several buildings destroyed and metallic shutters of shops ripped apart.
Fire tenders struggled for more than two hours to extinguish the fire.
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The unit had been manufacturing country-made crackers for temple festivals and weddings.
The police have seized raw materials.