Sivakasi: With one more person succumbing to injuries, the death
toll in the fire at a fire-cracker factory near Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu
has now reached 38. At least 60 others have been injured.The fire broke out at the factory, Om Siva Sakthi Crackers, at about 12:30 pm yesterday. It took 10 fire tenders close to five hours to bring it under control.
It has now emerged that the state Explosives Department had suspended the factory's licence on Tuesday, reportedly over at least 40 safety norm violations like over-crowding, wrongful mixing of chemicals and overstocking. The factory hence should not have been running operations yesterday.
Over 300 workers were believed to have been inside the factory when the fire broke out. But most of them reportedly managed to escape the building. Many of those killed are said to be people who were standing outside the factory. Many by-standers were injured by sparks that flew while some others were affected by the strong fumes.
Those seriously injured were taken to a multi-specialty hospital in Madurai, 100 kilometres from Sivakasi. The others were admitted to a government hospital in Sivakasi and also in Virudhnagar.
All 60 rooms in the factory building were gutted. These include 20 rooms that stored chemicals. The fire also spread to godowns about 200 feet away. Two of the three godowns in the factory were also burnt down.
Sivakasi is India's biggest hub for the manufacture of matches and fire crackers. Work to meet the Diwali demand for crackers has been on in full swing in Sivakasi factories and factories have employees at work in full strength.
From: NDTV
