PUDUCHERRY: Three women were charred to death and two women seriously injured in an explosion at a cracker manufacturing unit at Karayamputhur near Bahour on Friday afternoon.
According to Superintendent of Police (South) Balakrishnan, when five women workers were manufacturing crackers for the ensuing Deepavali in the Om Sakthi Fireworks Unit owned by Gunasundari (45), wife of Vadivelu, the explosives stored in the unit caught fire, triggering an explosion. The cause of the fire is still not known.
Varalaskhmi (45), Deepa (37) and her sister Vaitheeswari( 27) died on the spot while another worker Kalamani (45) and Gunasundari, were seriously injured and hospitalised at Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Post Graduate Institute. The three deceased women were from Sornavur and Panayadikuppam villages.
Three fire tenders battled the blaze for nearly two hours and put out the flame.
The manufacturing unit is situated near Karayamputhir village. It has got a licence valid till March 31, 2020. The famous cracker, ‘Ariyankuppam patas’, was being manufactured in the unit.
One dies in V’nagar
A 50-year-old worker died in an explosion at a firecracker unit in Jameen Salwarpatti on Friday. The deceased, Muthupandi, a resident of Alamarathupatti village. Sources said the unit, owned by one Baskaran of Sivakasi, had a licence from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO). It had employed 200 workers.