Worker killed, five others injured in blast at fireworks unit

Virudhunagar: A worker was killed, and five others sustained injuries in a blast at a fireworks unit in Keela Thayilpatti village near Sattur on Sunday.

Despite Sunday being a holiday for fireworks units, workers were involved in manufacturing fireworks in Hindustan Fireworks, owned by Ganesan of Thiruthangal. At around 8.45am, a blast was reported in a working shed while the workers were handling chemicals.

Balagurusamy, 50, of Thiruthangal, was killed, while five other workers - Kannan, 50, Rajasekar, 29, of Thayilpatti, Rajapandi, 37, of Padanthal, Kamaleshram, 28, and Ramesh, 20, sustained injuries and were admitted to the Sivakasi govt hospital for treatment. Kannan was later referred to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai district.

Following the blast, thick white fumes over 50 feet high were visible in the area. Nearly 10 working sheds in the unit collapsed. Fire and rescue services personnel from Vembakottai and Sattur rushed to the spot and doused the fire.

Police and revenue department officials rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry to ascertain whether the unit obtained permission from the officials for production on Sunday. Virudhunagar district revenue officer R Rajendran suspended the licence of the unit. The Vembakottai police registered a case, arrested the foreman of the unit, Loganathan, and are conducting further investigations.

In a statement, chief minister M K Stalin stated that he was saddened by the death of a worker in the blast. He stated that he instructed the doctors to provide proper treatment to the workers who sustained injuries in this incident. Expressing his condolences, Stalin announced a compensation of 4 lakh to the family members of the deceased worker. The CM also announced 1 lakh each to the workers who sustained severe injuries and 50,000 each to the workers who sustained minor injuries.

It maybe recalled that this is the second such incident reported this month in Virudhunagar district. Earlier, on July 1, a blast was reported in Gokulesh Fireworks situated in Chinnakamanpatti village near Sattur taluk in Virudhunagar district, in which 10 workers were killed and three others sustained injuries.