2 killed, 1 injured in Thanjai illegal cracker unit blast

It is said, G Ganapathy (48) of Cholan Nagar in Thanjavur had been running an illegal cracker unit at Thenkondar Iruppu village near Ammapettai in a land owned by Dakshinamurthy of the village and used to stock the country made crackers in a shed close to the unit. 

On Wednesday morning, when three workers N Nagarajan (33) of Mannayarthottam, Vilar Road in Thanjavur, M Pitchaiyan (52) of Keezha Ambalakara Street in Raramuthirakkottai and D Muthamizhnathan (70) of Thenkondar Iruppu were engaged in making crackers, there was a sudden explosion in the shed where they had stocked crackers. 

The fire soon spread to the entire shed where they were making crackers. The crackers began bursting and the workers were caught within the shed that was in full blaze. Hearing the blast, the villagers ran to the shed which was located in the middle of paddy fields. 

But they could hardly go near the unit. Soon, they passed on the information to the police and the fire service personnel rushed to the spot.

However, Nagarajan was charred to death while the other two - Pitchaiyan and Muthamiznathan, were found battling for life. 

The duo were rushed to the Thanjavur Medical college hospital. However, Pitchaiyan died on the way. Muthamiznathan who had suffered than 60 per cent burns is being treated at the hospital. 

On information, District Collector A Annadurai, Superintendent of Police J Mahesh, Assistant Collector Pradeep Kumar and other officials rushed to the spot and held inquiries. 

In the initial inquiry, it was found that the cracker unit’s licence had expired on January 31, 2016 and the renewal of the licence had not been done owing to safety issues. Later, Ammapettai police arrested, the owner of the cracker unit, Ganapathy. Further investigation is on.