VIRUDHUNAGAR: Six workers died and one sustained injury in an explosion at Sainath Fireworks Industries, a licenced firecracker manufacturing unit at Kottaiyur village near Virudhunagar, on Saturday.
According to sources, preliminary investigation revealed that violation of protocols, including manufacturing of crackers beyond the approved limit, led to the accident at the unit’s chemical mixing block.
The deceased have been identified as S Sivakumar (56) and S Meenakshisundaram (46) of Aruppukottai, G Velmurugan (54) and S Kamaraj (54) of Kurundhamadam, R Kannan (54) of Veerarpatti and R Nagaraj (37) of Chettikurichi, police said.
Another worker, Mohammaed Sudheen of Avudaiyapuram, who got injured in the explosion, was admitted to a hospital in Madurai for treatment.
Chief Minister M K Stalin expressed his condolences and announced a solatium of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured worker.
The cracker unit, which has at least 90 rooms, is owned by K Sasibalan and his wife Niranchanadevi, who is also the owner and shareholder of another unit, Vanitha Fireworks, in Sivakasi.
The Petroleum & Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) licence for the unit was registered in the name of D Balaji.
Speaking to TNIE, some female employees of the unit said the explosion occurred within 40 minutes of start of work for the day. “I was filling sand in the tubes and suddenly heard a loud noise. I thought some workers were testing freshly-made crackers. Only later I realised it was an accident. The blast site was full of smoke. Once it cleared up, I could see that the chemical mixing building — which had four rooms — was completely destroyed,” one of the workers said.
Ensure all safety protocols are followed in cracker units: EPS
Upon information, about 18 fire and rescue services personnel from Sattur and Virudhunagar arrived at the spot to douse the fire.
“We received the call at 9.11am. Since all the bodies were stuck in the debris, we had to first clear it out using an earthmover and then retrieved the bodies. The entire operation took an hour,” a fire-fighter said. The bodies were then sent to the Government Medical College Hospital in Virudhunagar for postmortem.
The family members of the victims were inconsolable at Virudhunagar GMHC. “My husband Nagaraj and I were working at another cracker unit in Sivakasi and moved to Settikurichi in the middle of December to be near my mother’s house. We joined Sainath Fireworks Industries just a month ago. Upon the suggestions of my mother and another employee at the unit we assumed it would be a safe working place,” said a distraught N Chitradevi (34) who witnessed the tragedy unfold before her eyes.
Vachakarapatti police have registered a case against Balaji, Sasibalan, Niranjanadevi, Prakash and Pandiaraj (foremen of the unit). Ganeshan and Sathishkumar, foreman and supervisor of Vanitha Fireworks, respectively, have also been booked. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who condemned the state government for its alleged negligence, urged the DMK government to ensure that all safety protocols are followed in firecracker manufacturing units to avoid accidents.