The reverberation of the explosion at the fire cracker manufacturing unit at Maloor near Pathanapuram on Sunday was felt several kilometers away. The firecracker unit was located around 400 m away from the main road and the rescue personnel had a tough time.
The fire fighters who reached the spot around nearly 30 minutes later from Punalur doused the flames which spread to the nearby rubber plantation.
Seven fire tender units from Punalur, Pathanamthitta, Adoor, Kottarakkara and Kundara were engaged in the fire-fighting and rescue operations.
The firecracker unit functioned in three sheds, of which two were completely destroyed.
The roof tiles and window panes of several houses in the area, including those of Rajikumar of Aluvilaveedu , Kusala Kumari of Sreekrishna Mandiram, Rajan of Konathuveedu and Sasidharan of Sulatha Mandiram, were damaged.
The Revenue Department will assess the losses and provide adequate compensation to those who suffered the losses.
District Collector P G Thomas informed that RDO V Jayaprakash had been ordered to conduct an inquiry into the incident.
Experts from the Explosive Commissionerate, Ernakulam will inspect the accident spot on Monday. The firecracker unit was reportedly registered in 2002 in the name of Maloor Prasannan.
The RDO inquiry will examine whether the unit had followed licence guidelines. The RDO has been directed to submit the report in a week.
It was learnt that the unit had been working day and night, in view of the festival season ahead. Only few workers turned up for work on Sunday.
The unit was a family business for Prasannan, whose father late Maloor Kumaran was a renowned fire-cracker manufacturer in the area.