Nine injured in explosion at fireworks factory

Around nine persons including two children were injured after an explosion had taken place in a fire cracker factory at Naihati in North 24 Parganas on Sunday.

Police said that at around 11.55 am on Sunday, the local people heard the sound of an explosion 

inside the fire crackers unit and a blaze had soon spread to the two adjacent factories and a house.

The incident had spread panic in the locality as the factory is situated in the densely populated area. People saw thick smoke billowing out of the factory.

The injured victims have been identified as Parbati Das, Harek Ali, Salehar Bibi, Raj Mullick, Tapu Mullick, Sagar Mullick and Kanika Baidya.  Police are yet to divulge the name of the child who was also injured in the incident.

The injured were taken to a hospital in Naihati, while some of them were later shifted to Kalyani Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, as their condition deteriorated.

After being informed, seven fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the flame and the fire fighters had taken a few hours to bring the situation under control. The local residents have alleged that the fire crackers were being produced at the factory illegally. They staged demonstration protesting against the running of a fire crackers unit in the densely populated area without a proper license.

A huge contingent of police was deployed to pacify the mob. The demonstration was lifted following the intervention of the senior police officers who assured the local residents that they would carry out a thorough investigation and book the culprits.

Police have started an investigation into the matter and have conducted raids to nab the owner of the fire cracker unit, who is at large since the incident had taken place. There were few such incidents in some districts, where the explosion took place inside the illegal fire crackers unit.

In most of the cases, it was found that the owners of the cracker unit ran them without proper licensing from various departments.Earlier, a major tragedy had occurred when twelve people were  charred to death and four others were injured in an explosion in an illegal fire cracker factory at Pingla in West Midnapore district in May 2015.

The blast took place at Brahmanbar village in Pingla, when at least 33 people were working in the factory. Witnesses claimed that the impact of the blast scattered the body parts of the victims all over the place and led to cracks in several mud houses in the area.