VILLUPURAM: Two people died and eight suffered injuries after a mini lorry carrying explosives blew up near Gingee on Monday morning.
According to the police, the lorry was on its way to Gingee via the Tindivanam highway. The driver stopped the vehicle when he noticed some smoke coming from the vehicle near Vadavanur junction. He along with the help of some villagers tried to put it out by pouring water on the vehicle.
After inquiry, the villagers came to know that the lorry was laden with explosives. Alarmed by this, they immediately moved away. Some even tried to clear their vehicles parked near the lorry.
However, the explosives blew up with a loud noise and a huge impact throwing away the driver and another person. They suffered severe burns and died on the spot.
The sound of the blast was so high that several villagers gathered near the blast site. They rushed the injured to the government hospital and informed the Gingee police station.
Police rushed to the spot and sent the bodies of the deceased to the same hospital for autopsy. Gingee MLA Masthan came to the spot and inquired about the incident.
A police source privy to the inquiry said the vehicle got damaged and the duo in the vehicle died with severe injuries. Their identities are yet to be established. The police suspect the vehicle was coming from Puducherry based on the name of a manufacturing company found on the remaining explosive bundles.
Eyewitnesses said that at first, they thought the smoke was coming from the vehicle's engine. On probing further, they figured that it was coming from the load which turned out to be explosives. The deceased duo was unloading the explosives when the blast took place. The villagers escaped with injuries as they moved away in time, they further added.
The blast also left doors, windows and glass items in the surrounding houses damaged. A tea shop near the spot was completely torn down in the explosion.