COIMBATORE: An elderly man died and a youth was injured in an explosion that occurred in a house at Kempatti Colony here on Thursday morning.
Police suspect that a particular variety of fire crackers, ‘Lala’, generally used to catch fish, which were illegally stocked in the house could have triggered the explosion.
Police said, while Devi (40) was residing in one portion of the house, her father Shanmugam was occupying the other portion. Meanwhile, Shanmugam’s son-in-law Ravikumar had brought an elderly man to the house on Thursday morning and around 11.30 am, neighbours heard a thud from the house. The entire house collapsed and neighbour also felt the impact of the explosion.
On information, Selvapuram police rushed to the spot and rescued Devi’s son Naveen (19) from the debris and sent him to a hospital. Later, they also retrieved the body of an elderly man, whose identity is not known. ACP (L&O - South) G S Anitha said, “Though the blast could have been triggered by ‘Lala’ crackers, there was no evidence to show that the crackers were in the house.”