40 killed in India in fireworks factory fire
Source: Agencies |
September 6, 2012, Thursday
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A MASSIVE blaze swept through a fireworks factory in southern India yesterday, killing at least 40 workers and injuring 60 others, police said.
The fire spread to 40 of the 60 rooms at the Om Siva Shakti fireworks factory, one of the biggest in Sivakasi town in Tamil Nadu state, police officer P. Karupaiah said.
"Bodies have been burnt beyond recognition and we are still trying to trace the family members of the victims," police officer Najmul Hoda said.
The fire started in a small room that was packed with workers and swiftly spread to dozens of other rooms, he said. Many were being used to store explosive chemicals and other raw material needed to manufacture firecrackers.
"Some men jumped out of the windows but there were many who tried saving others in the factory and got trapped in the thick smoke. Thirty-four people have lost their lives and 60 are injured," Hoda said.
Firefighter Shanmugaraju described a "huge explosion" as the factory in Sivakasi went up in flames. The town is the center of the Indian fireworks industry, some 700 kilometers from state capital Chennai.
The firefighter told AFP that local people had walked towards the Om Sivasakthi plant after the fire broke out and were then caught up in the carnage.
Officials at a local hospital confirmed that they had taken in 34 bodies as well as many badly burned survivors.
"We are treating 52 injured patients. Many are in critical condition," an administrator in the Sivakasi government hospital, Venkatalakshmi, who goes by one name. "Every doctor is attending to six or seven injured people and many patients are very critical."
Sivakasi, home to 700 fireworks factories, is running at peak production for the coming festival season, which includes Diwali, the festival of lights.
The fire spread to 40 of the 60 rooms at the Om Siva Shakti fireworks factory, one of the biggest in Sivakasi town in Tamil Nadu state, police officer P. Karupaiah said.
"Bodies have been burnt beyond recognition and we are still trying to trace the family members of the victims," police officer Najmul Hoda said.
The fire started in a small room that was packed with workers and swiftly spread to dozens of other rooms, he said. Many were being used to store explosive chemicals and other raw material needed to manufacture firecrackers.
"Some men jumped out of the windows but there were many who tried saving others in the factory and got trapped in the thick smoke. Thirty-four people have lost their lives and 60 are injured," Hoda said.
Firefighter Shanmugaraju described a "huge explosion" as the factory in Sivakasi went up in flames. The town is the center of the Indian fireworks industry, some 700 kilometers from state capital Chennai.
The firefighter told AFP that local people had walked towards the Om Sivasakthi plant after the fire broke out and were then caught up in the carnage.
Officials at a local hospital confirmed that they had taken in 34 bodies as well as many badly burned survivors.
"We are treating 52 injured patients. Many are in critical condition," an administrator in the Sivakasi government hospital, Venkatalakshmi, who goes by one name. "Every doctor is attending to six or seven injured people and many patients are very critical."
Sivakasi, home to 700 fireworks factories, is running at peak production for the coming festival season, which includes Diwali, the festival of lights.
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