Seven people have been reportedly killed in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore. Four others suffered critical injuries. The factory owner also died in the fire, the police said.
Devastated visuals from the site show people crying near the debris of the concrete structure that collapsed in the blast. Local residents also gathered at the site which is 190 km from the state capital Chennai.
“It is a licenced unit near Kattumannarkoil. All of them were workers. Investigation is on into whether they were making country-made bombs and whether they were using only permitted explosives,” Cuddalore Superintendent of Police Sree Abhinav told NDTV.
The accident happened at the time when the Tamil Nadu government allowed industries to work at full force amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The fireworks sector missed their peak manufacturing season ahead of Diwali due to the coronavirus lockdown. The fireworks capital of India, Sivakasi, is also in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, fire fighting officials are at the spot. The police are probing the cause of the blast in the firecracker factory. The cause of the blast is yet to be ascertained.
With over 80,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths for yet another day, the Covid-19 tally in India on Friday rose to 3,936,747 with 68.472 fatalities, according to the latest data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
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