At least 13 persons were killed and 40 injured in a series of explosions at a manufacturing unit preparing fireworks for the annual Thrissur Pooram festival in Kerala on Tuesday, The Hindu reported.
This comes two days after another explosion at a fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district left 23 persons dead on Sunday.
In Thrissur, workers had been inside a set of temporary sheds situated on a five-acre paddy field in Mundathikode and were assembling fireworks for the Thiruvambady Devaswom, one of the temple bodies that organise the Thrissur Pooram.
The fireworks were being assembled for a sample display scheduled for Friday, The Indian Express reported. This comes ahead of the annual temple festival that will be held on April 26 at the Vadakkunnathan temple.
On Tuesday, two massive explosions that were seconds apart tore through the sheds at about 3.30 pm and triggered a blaze. Five of the eight sheds on the site were gutted, The Hindu reported.
Unidentified officials from the Thrissur Government Medical College told The Hindu that five of the injured person are critical, with one victim having suffered over 90% burns. The other four had sustained around 70% burn injuries.
Several others were undergoing treatment across different hospitals in the region.
City Police Commissioner Nakul Rajendra Deshmukh told The News Minute that as per preliminary information, it was a sudden explosion that was followed by a chain reaction. “The remaining materials kept exploding for about 20 minutes,” he said.
Following the incident, District Collector Sikha Surendran ordered a magisterial inquiry. State Health Minister Veena George also directed that specialised medical care be ensured for the injured.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed the release of Rs 50 lakh to the district collector for immediate relief, The Indian Express reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the dead. He also announced Rs 50,000 for the injured.