THANJAVUR: A youth and an elderly man engaged in making crackers at an illegal firecracker unit in Neyveli Thenpathi near Tiruvonam in the district were killed in a blast on the premises on Sunday. A 47-year-old woman running the unit has been arrested, the police said, adding that her son is one of the deceased.
On Sunday morning, upon witnessing a blast at the illegal cracker unit run by Samrath Begum and located on the outskirts of Neyveli Thenpathi, villagers rushed to the spot to find a shed there and its wall completely collapsed.
On information, fire and rescue services personnel from Karambakudi recovered the bodies of two persons who were trapped in the wreckage. They were identified as A Mohammed Riaz (19), who was Begum’s son, and K Sundararajan (60) – both of whom hailed from the same village.
Inquiries revealed that Begum, along with her son Riaz used to sell crackers sourced from outside.
Recently, due to showers, they moved their stocks to the shed. Besides selling such country-made crackers, the two were also illegally making crackers using jute threads inside the shed.
The blast occurred while such crackers were being made, the police said. While a total of five people were engaged in making the crackers, two were away for breakfast while another person was standing outside the unit, they added.
Meanwhile, based on a complaint by VAO Palanivel, the Vattathikkottai police registered a case and sent the bodies of Sundararajan and Riaz to the Pattukkottai government hospital for post-mortem.
The police also arrested Begum.
District Collector B Priyanka Pankajam who inspected the accident site told media persons that preliminary inquiries revealed the unit was unlicensed and that the workers had moved recently to make crackers for a local festival. She also said that the place where the blast occurred had a cellular communication tower, which she said was removed only about two months ago, implying that the illegal cracker unit came up only after that.
Further inquiries will be held and based on them, actions will be taken, she added.