In a devastating explosion at a fireworks factory at Mudalipatti village near Virudhunagar 37 persons, a majority of them onlookers, were killed while 40 others sustained serious injuries on Wednesday.
The blast occurred just about noon in one of the 42 sheds on the sprawling campus of Om Sakthi Fireworks where the mixing of ammonium nitrate and sulphur for making fancy fireworks for Deepavali was being carried out.
Explosives experts pointed out that the mixing of highly inflammable chemicals might have gone wrong, triggering the destructive fire which spread to all other sheds, forcing workers to flee.
District revenue officer R. Raju said only a few workers were killed as many of them were out for lunch. When the initial explosion took place, the workers fled in all four directions, jumping the barbed fence where slippers were found strewn around.
But when the fire spread to the stock room near the entrance, where a huge amount of ammonium nitrate was stored, it started exploding, a block development officer, who witnessed the incident, said. All sundry materials, such as stones, bricks, slabs and iron rods, flew like missiles in all directions up to a distance of 100 metres, hitting onlookers.
Superintendent of police Najmul Hoda told this newspaper, “A majority of them killed were relatives and friends of workers fatally hit by flying objects like stones that flew due to the force of the explosion.”
Almost all sheds were damaged and three of them were razed to the ground. Rescue workers could not go near the blazing sheds for nearly two hours.
The DRO said nearly 250 workers had been employed since they were racing against time to meet the Deepavali deadline and cited excess stockpile of explosive materials as the major reason for the explosion. The death toll is expected to rise since many had sustained serious injuries. They have been rushed to Madurai hospitals. Of the 37 killed, one was a woman, the police said.