VIRUDHUNAGAR: Two people were killed in an explosion at a cracker unit near Sattur here on Thursday. The deceased, Sundaraj (50) of Ammayarpatti and Murugesan (57) of Thulukankuruchi, were employees of the unit, owned by Jaishankar of Thulukankuruchi near Sattur. The explosion occurred in the morning due to fraction when the two employees were mixing chemicals required for making crackers. Sundaraj and Murugesan died on the spot.
Fire and rescue service personnel from Vembakottai recovered the bodies from the debris and sent them to Government Sivakasi Hospital for a postmortem. The Vembakottai police registered a case against Jaishankar, foreman Shankar, supervisors Vijayakumar and Chandran. Shankar, Vijayakumar, Chandran were arrested but Jaishankar is absconding. The cracker unit, which is licensed by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, Nagpur, has nearly 70 working sheds.