A pall of gloom enveloped villages around Achchankulam in Virudhunagar district, where Friday’s fire accident at the Sree Mariyammal Fireworks unit claimed 19 lives.
After 15 workers succumbed to burns and injuries caused by flying debris late on Friday, the toll kept rising till Saturday morning. “We were able to establish the identity of 16 persons, including women. Identity of three bodies could not be ascertained,” Virudhunagar Collector R. Kannan said.
Stating that human error caused the accident, he said the administration would mount vigil on fireworks units to prevent the practice of leasing them out to multiple operators.
Initial inspection of the premises by PESO officials on Friday revealed that it had been sub-leased to three or four persons.
“Sub-leasing the unit to multiple operators is a serious violation of safety norms,” said Controller of Explosives K. Pandey. He said the practice could have led to the higher number of casualities. He was accompanied by Deputy Controllers of Explosives Nitin Goel and Amit Goel.
Personnel attached to the Elayirampannai station have registered a case. The police have booked six persons.
License holder M. Santhanamari, 55, and five persons who sub-leased the units — M. Sakthivel, 38, I. Raja, 46, B. Sivakumar, 50, and his son, S. Ponnupandi, 21, and A. Velaraj, 59 — were named. Of them, Ponnupandi has been arrested. Special teams have been formed to nab the other accused.
Bodies of all 16 persons whose identities had been established were handed over to their family members after post-mortem examinations were conducted at government hospitals in Sattur, Sivakasi and Madurai.
CPI State secretary Mutharasan, who visited families of the deceased at the Sattur GH, said action should be taken against officials who allowed violations at the unit.
Stating that the fireworks industry had become an indispensable industry providing jobs to lakhs of employees, he said efforts should be made to make it safer. He sought ₹1 crore relief to family members of the deceased.
CPI(M) district secretary K. Arjunan said the State government should ensure continous functioning of the fireworks industry, without the practice of leasing and giving out contracts. Efforts should be made to ensure the livelihood of the workers, but also make the workplaces safer.
The deceased have been identified as G. Santhiya, 20; R. Karpagavalli, 22; D. Nesamani, 32; K. Thangalakshmi, 46; M. Panjavarnam; V. Backiyaraj, 40, and his wife Selvi, 40; P. Dhanalakshmi, 45; M. Usha, 35; K. Ravichandran, 58; R. Chinnathambi, 36; M. Rengaraj, 57; R. Kannan, 48; M. Sankaranarayanan, 60; P. Karuppasamy and M. Gopal, 30.
In a separate accident at Krishnasamy Fireworks near Sivakasi, a working shed was destroyed on Saturday.
One worker, Suresh, 31, sustained minor injuries. Personnel attached to the Maraneri police station are investigating.
