BENGALURU: Majority of the youth who lost their lives in the fire tragedy at the Attibele cracker shop cum godown had taken up the part-time job to earn money to pursue their education and meet family expenses. Seven out of 14 youth were related, all from T Ammapettai village in Harur taluk of Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu. Their parents are farm labourers struggling to earn even Rs 100-200 per day.
Relatives of the deceased who gathered at the hospital, where autopsy was conducted on Sunday, said the youth wanted to come up in life. “Along with their studies they used to take up part-time jobs and this offer came their way as Deepavali is approaching,” a relative said.
“One youth was in his 12th, some were pursuing under-graduation and some already were degree holders. Those who were pursuing their education had applied leave for this work,” he said. The victims were engaged in packing cracker gift boxes and were paid Rs 6 per box. They made around Rs 600 per day, while they were given free food and accommodation.
It is common for youth hailing from villages in Krishnagiri, Salem, Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai districts to come to the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border area, where there are hundreds of cracker shops, and engage in cracker packaging and related works during Deepavali. The relative said they got to know about the fire tragedy on Saturday evening. “Only did we know that our children were employed here. We all rushed to Attibele. By the time we came, the bodies were being brought out,” he said.
The parents and relatives struggled to identify the charred bodies, he added. “Most of the seven youth were single children. What should be the fate of the parents who have lost their lone children? For someone’s fault, innocent lives are lost and who will compensate for this,” he asked, urging both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments to provide jobs in government departments on compassionate grounds.