18 fireworks unit sheds destroyed

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Madurai: In all, 200 workers had a narrow escape when a major explosion occurred at a fireworks manufacturing unit near Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district on Thursday. Though no casualty or injury was reported, 18 sheds in two units were destroyed completely.
Police said the accident took place at Chidam­baram Fireworks situated at M.Duraisa­mipuram and run by Kumaresan (50) of Annamalaiyar Colony in the afternoon when workers were having lunch under the trees on the campus.
Fancy aerial fireworks called '12 shots', which, on being ignited, shoot in to the air and emit sound and light 12 times, were left to dry on an open-air platform meant for drying finished products. All of a sudden, the crackers started bursting, leading to a huge explosion. Fire service personnel attributed the reason for the blast to the high velocity of wind.
“The friction that was caused due to the wind that blew at that time seemed to have triggered an explosion,” an officer said.  The aerial crackers that went 200-300 m up into the air fell on the sheds in the unit and razed ten of them to the ground.
They also fell on the sheds in the neighbouring Krishna­swamy Fireworks and razed eight sheds there. Four sheds in the units suffered damage. A few houses in the locality too are said to have developed cracks due to the intensity of the blast.
Police said that workers in both factories ran to safety as soon as the crackers started bursting. An onlooker, Kanni­paappaa (50) of Acham Thavir­thaan village sustained injuries due to a fall. About 5 fire tenders from Sivakasi and Sattur were pressed into service to put out the fire. Collector T.N.Hariharan, South Zone IG Abhai Kumar Singh, DIG Ananda Kumar Somani, SP Maheswaran and DRO Muniswamy inspected the factories. Maraneri police registered a case.