VIRUDHUNAGAR: “We know she might not be alive, but we at least need her body,” says 63-year-old Marikkani, his eyes filling with tears as he speaks of his wife Poomari (52). Marikkani is at the Sattur Government Hospital to which some of the victims of the Sree Mariyammal Fireworks factory fire mishap in Virudhunagar’s Achankulam village were brought on Friday.
Like many others, he has been running from one hospital to another in the hope of finding his loved one, even as hope that he might find her alive fades by the minute.
"We have been married for 30 years and have been working in the same unit for the past eight years. I was earlier a loadman and she was a matchstick labourer. As the matchstick industry was mechanised, we decided to work in this industry,” he says.
It was a single spark on Friday that upended his life. Eyewitnesses say the fire started at around 1.30pm at the base of a tree under which workers were filling fancy ‘shot’ crackers with chemicals. It quickly spread to the factory.
Marikanni, who had just stepped out to have tea, says he heard a bang from one of the unit’s 60 rooms before he was hit by a chunk of concrete. When he came to, a fire was running through half the factory and his search for Poomari began.
With at least 18 others killed and over 30 injured in the mishap, rescue personnel shifted bodies and people to Government Hospitals at Sattur, Sivakasi and Kovilpatti as well as a few private hospitals at Sattur aside from Madurai’s Government Rajaji Hospital. In the aftermath of the accident, the kin of the victims were left running from hospital to hospital searching for their loved ones.
One Rajendran, seen waiting at the doors of the Sattur GH, is stunned at the condition of the deceased. The only identifying feature on one of the dead women is a single bangle. Another person must be identified by their torso, the head and legs having been burnt to ash, he says.
Twenty-eight-year-old Rajasekar is numb. His pregnant wife, Karpagavalli (22), died while being shifted to GRH. She was seven months pregnant and Friday was her first day at work after a year since their marriage. "She insisted on going to work because she said she felt bored.”
It was also the first day of work for 19-year-old nursing student Sandhya, who was hoping to earn enough money to fund her education.
Among those fearing the worst are the relatives of Selvi and Bhagyaraj, believed to be dead, who face the unenviable task of informing the couple’s 12-year-old of their fate.
One labourer, who survived the blast unharmed, found the apathy of the officials and hospital staff upsetting. "We know they have a lot of work, but why can’t they cover the bodies with a piece of cloth?” he fumes. “The government can offer solatium for the dead, and officials can submit reports. But what will they do about the living?” he asks.
CITU functionary Subbaraj raises the same question. "No proper inspections are conducted nor action taken. Most of the workers are not provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or insurance or benefist. They work for a daily wage," he claims.
In this incident, he points out that the labourers were working in an open space. "That is illegal. If officials had conducted proper inspections, this would not have taken place,” he adds.
Blaming the heart-rending chaos of relatives that followed the mishap on the lack of a proper attendance system at the unit, Subbaraj says that officials do not know the exact number of victims.
Officials say the unit was leased out by the owner and the leaser sub-leased it to multiple contractors.
CITU firecrackers and matchworks labourers’ union district secretary M Mahalakshmi says that such mishaps result in public demands to shut down the industry. "What will we do to rehabilitate the workers? What will they do for their food? Further, this industry provides economic value to the district,” she argues.
“The only solution is proper inspection and monitoring by officials.”