Blast effect felt 3-4 km away from site; villagers still reeling from scene of mishap

CHENNAI: The cracker unit blast in Kancheepuram, which killed 9 and injured several others, is situated in Valathottam Nagar at Kuruvi Malai, Kancheepuram taluk, and has been functioning since 2006.

The unit owner, Narendren (photo below), has the necessary licence from the government for running a firecracker factory and the licence is active till 2024.

The reason for the fire is still unknown; investigation is going on by the fire department. It’s speculated that the heat might have triggered the fire at noon but again, but again, it can be confirmed only after examining the place.

The district collector who visited the spot said, “Narendren, owner of the unit, has got all the permission. His licence was renewed only after proper verification.”

However, MSME Minister TM Anbarasan, who visited the spot soon after the incident, said that the factory was capable of handling only about 10 workers at a time but 27 people were working at the time of the incident. “This will be investigated and action will be taken against the owner. Compensation will be given by the government to the people who died and were injured in the accident,” he added.

Meanwhile, residents who were about 3-4 kilometres away from the Valathottam Nagar heard a loud explosion and felt tremors in the buildings. They rushed out of their homes thinking that it was an earthquake.

Karthick from the neighbourhood said, “Initially we thought it was an earthquake and rushed out of the houses. We stood outside for a while. Only after a few minutes, we came to know that there was a huge explosion in the cracker unit. We immediately rushed to the spot for the rescue and assistance.”

Onlookers and villagers are yet to recover from what they saw at the blast site. Most bodies were completely burnt in the fire and they couldn’t even identify some of the bodies. Vijaya (38), who was admitted to the GH, died without responding to treatment.

Smoke billowing out of the cracker unit after the blaze on Wednesday.

Her husband Gangadhar, who was also working at the same factory, died on the spot. His body had exploded into pieces in the explosion. It took several hours for the rescue team to identify the parts and confirm that it was Gangadhar.

Cracker unit blasts are not new in Kancheepuram. In 2014, six people died in an explosion in Vaiyavur village and many more were injured. Three years later, 2 people were injured after crackers kept illegally inside a house exploded. In 2018, four people died after a blast in a cracker-making unit.

Blast in cracker unit at Kovai kills woman, injures senior citizen

A 45-year-old woman died, and an elderly man suffered serious injuries in a blast at a cracker manufacturing godown in Salem on Wednesday. At around 4.30, an unexpected blast resulted in the death of Amutha (45) from Vellalapuram. Vedappan (75) suffered severe burns and has been admitted in Salem Government Hospital in a critical condition. The Fire and Rescue personnel from Edappadi rushed to the spot and doused the fire at the licensed cracker unit owned by S Kumar (40). The Konganapuram police have registered a case and further inquiries are on.

Labour Welfare Minister CV Ganesan visited the hospital and spoke to survivors.

Avoid recurrence of such accidents, parties urge TN govt

The CPM, PMK and MNM on Wednesday extended their condolences to the bereaved families.

They also urged the State government to take steps to ensure such tragic accidents do not happen in the future and sought adequate relief to the victims’ families.

In a statement, CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan said, “All buildings in the unit were completely damaged. Workers were ordinary daily wage labourers and belonged to weavers’ families. They were not covered under accident insurance. No safety regulations were followed in this unit. If it’s revealed that the accident occurred due to negligence of industrial inspectors, authorities should be subjected to strict action.”

PMK founder Dr Ramadoss said that all the injured should be provided quality treatment. “Rs 25 lakh should be paid to the deceased families and Rs 10 lakh to the injured,” he said.

MNM founder Kamal Haasan tweeted: “Quality treatment should be provided to the injured and adequate relief to the victims immediately.’