BALASORE: After a fire in a cracker vending zone in Rourkela killed one and gutted 46 shops in Rourkela in Odisha early on Wednesday morning, at least eight persons, including a minor were charred to death following an explosion in a cracker manufacturing unit at Bahabalpur in Balasore district in the state on Wednesday afternoon on the eve of Diwali.
Though the cause of explosion is yet to be ascertained, police sources said the mishap occurred when more than 40 labourers were preparing crackers in the unit owned by one Golak Pradhan.According to initial reports, as many as 30 persons have been injured, 20 of them critically as the fire generated during the explosion caught the thatched house located away from the human habitation.
An eyewitness said, the intensity of the explosion was so high that the bodies were thrown to more than 100 metres from the spot. A few traders who had gone to purchase crackers also have been injured. Thank God, the unit was not located close to any human habitation, he said.
Fire fighting teams from Basta and Balasore rushed to the spot and doused the fire. However, seven persons had already succumbed to the injuries by the time they brought the situation under control. Another person died while being shifted to the hospital.
Eight of the critically injured persons have so far been admitted in the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) and the process in on to bring all injured persons to the hospital.
District Collector Pramod Kumar Das, who was on the way to the village, said additional district magistrate and sub-collector have already arrived at the spot and are monitoring the rescue and relief operation.
“Injured persons are being rushed to the DHH and those who are critically injured will be shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack. The priority is now to save the lives of injured,” he said.
A team of police officials led by additional SP Santosh Nayak has left for Bahabalpur. Preliminary investigation revealed that the crackers caught fire while being prepared at the manufacturing unit. Verification is on whether the proprietor has the valid license, Nayak added.