KURNOOL: At least eleven persons were killed in an explosion in a granite quarry in Aluru mandal of Kurnool district on Friday night. Three tractors, a lorry and a shed, under which the workers were taking shelter, were gutted in the fire, police said.
According to locals and eye-witnesses, the intensity of the blast was experienced by people living in the areas 10 km away from the quarry in Hattibelagal village and tremors were felt in several villages in the neighbourhood and some houses even developed cracks. District collector S Satyanarayana confirmed to The New Indian Express that eleven people have been killed so far in the blast. All the deceased are suspected to be migrant labours from Bihar, Punjab and other states. There were nearly 30 workers at the quarry when the blast took place and some of them rushed out of the site with burns while some others could come out safely.
So intense was the blast that people rushed to the quarry found dead bodies scattered in the quarry and some of them were in mutilated condition. "The blast took place around 8.15 pm and when we rushed there, we saw three tractors and a lorry on fire. We could see at least seven bodies, some of them mutilated, at the site,'' an eye-witness said.
Fire tenders rushed to the place and are trying to douse the flames that engulfed the vehicles and the shed. Police cordoned off the area and are not allowing anyone near the quarry premises on the suspicion that there might be more explosives in the quarry which might go off anytime.
It was learnt that the quarry was operated illegally and the villagers of nearby villages have been asking the officials to take action against the illegal blastings and movement of heavy vehicles that are posing threat to their lives.