Relatives of those killed in an explosion at a firecracker manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar on Monday refused to recieve the bodies of the deceased and staged a road blockade demanding compensation.
At least 23 workers were charred to death and more than 12 were injured in a massive explosion at the Vanaja fireworks unit in Virudhunagar's Kattanarpatti village on Sunday.
A second blast that occurred during the rescue operations injured at least five policemen, media personnel, including TNIE senior photojournalist KK Sundar, and a few fire and rescue services personnel.
As the post-mortem examinations of the deceased continued at the Government Hospital and Medical College in the district on Monday, the relatives of the victims staged a protest demanding compensation of Rs 20 lakh for each family.
PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss had earlier sought Rs 25 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh for the injured.
Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran met the people injured in the tragic incident and urged the administration to strictly enforce safety measures to avoid such an incident in future.
DMK MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy acknowledged the need for taking more precautions and assured that the state government will look into the incident.
(With inputs from ANI)