Eight killed in blast at cracker unit

Factory was making fireworks in violation of norms

In one of the worst accidents in the fireworks industry, eight workers were killed and seven out of the nine injured were critical after an explosion at Rajammal Fireworks in Chippiparai near here on Friday afternoon.

The majority of the deceased as well as injured were women. Most of the victims were from neighbouring Tenkasi and Thoothukudi districts.

The unit’s owner, R. Ganesan, 37, of Vellaiyapuram near Sivakasi, had a licence only to make small crackers, and had violated norms by attempting to manufacture “fancy” (aerial) crackers, Collector R. Kannan, who rushed to the spot, told

The Hindu .

Stating that the workers lacked knowledge about handling certain chemicals, he said that mishandling could have led to the accident. The exact cause of the fire that sparked the explosion around 3.10 p.m. was under investigation, he added.

The Collector said that the licence of the unit was suspended in 2018 after officials discovered violations of safety norms. “The suspension was revoked in 2019 with a warning and the licensee gave an undertaking to comply with conditions,” Mr. Kannan said.

Following the explosion, a ball of flame engulfed the workers and all the deceased workers had died after they were charred.

Fire and Rescue Services personnel had to struggle for hours to put out the flames, as the chemicals at the accident site kept exploding till 8 p.m. All five work sheds were gutted.

Inspector General of Police (South Zone) K.P. Shanmuga Rajeswaran inspected the accident site along with the Superintendent of Police P. Perumal.

“Luckily, a godown on the fireworks premises where the raw chemicals were stocked in huge quantities escaped the flames. Otherwise, it could have caused havoc,” Revenue Divisional Officer, Sattur, A. Kalimuthu, said.

The deceased were identified as J. Rani, 42, G. Tamilselvi, 35, M. Thangammal, 39, J. Jeyabharathi, 47, M. Badrakali, 33, S. Veluthai, 34, R. Kaliammal, 63, and A. Murugaiah,57.

The injured were rushed to the government hospital in Kovilpatti. However, four of them were shifted to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital in Palayamkottai and four others to the government hospital in Thoothukudi.

The condition of Subbammal (60), Ayyammal (68), Murugalakshmi (37), Petchiammal (47), Madasamy (25), Balasubramanian (60) and Ponnuthai (48) is said to be critical as they have sustained 55% to 75% burns. Sankareswari (63) and Jeyaram (52) had sustained simple injuries, the police said.

The Elayirampannai police are investigating.