Three killed, six injured in explosion at Virudhunagar firecracker unit

The incident occurred at around 11.30 am and the victims were charred to death. The deceased were identified as Vellachamy (60) of Paraipatti, Pandiyarajan (28) and Karthik (16) of Meenampatti, sources said.

District Revenue Officer K Udhayakumar, Deputy Director of Fire Service P Saravana Kumar and Sattur Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramakrishnan inspected the spot.

According to Virudhunagar District Fire Officer K Ganesan, fire call was received at 11.40 am and the fire brigades along with water tenders from Sattur, Sivakasi, Vembakottai and Virudhunagar launched rescue operations.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the explosion occurred while the workers were engaged in mixing chemical compounds to prepare fire crackers. Hence, friction fuelled the explosion, collapsing three rooms, including storage room. Initially, the fire fighters spotted the charred body of Vellachamy (60). Later the bodies of Pandiyarajan and Karthik were recovered from debris. Among the six injured, three were women. One of the men V Vijayakumar (42) of Chinnakamanpatti, was critically ill with burns of 100 per cent on his body

Among the women, Mettamalai suffered 50 per cent burns to her body and P Lakshmanan (24) of Chinnakamanpatti with 30 per cent burns while the third injured was identified as Valliammal (60), wife of Chellapillai.

Besides, these members, Muthulakshmi (38) and Annalakshmi (55) of Mettamalai suffered 30 per cent burns to their bodies.

While four victims were admitted to Sivakasi Government Hospital, Muthulakshmi and Annalakshmi were taken to Sattur Government Hospital, the district Fire Officer said. The victims were later moved to Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital. Sattur Town police have filed a case, sources said.