Four dead, four critical in firecracker explosion in Odisha’s Khurda

Sources said eight people were inside the house when the mishap took place, four of whom succumbed and others battling for life

Khurda: In a shocking incident, at least four persons were killed and four others suffered critical injuries in a firecracker explosion inside a house at Tangi in Odisha’s Khurda district  here today.

The incident occured in Bhusandapur village under Tangi police limits. As per reports, a huge cache of firecrackers were stocked inside the house as part of Dola Purnima preparations. It is still unclear whether the firecrackers were manufactured or home-made but preliminary investigation revealed that the explosives were kept at various places in the house probably to dry up before being used for the festival. The reason behind the blast is, however, yet to be known.

Sources said eight people were inside the house when the mishap took place, four of whom succumbed and others battling for life. While fire services and police reached the spot on getting the information, rescue operations could not start immediately as the explosion was very powerful and kept continuing for a long time. As the crackers were going off one after the other, there are speculations that the victims had probably stacked those at various places instead of a common spot so that they could dry up fast.

While the house was gutted, the people trapped inside were somehow rescued after many efforts. The bodies of the deceased were recovered for autopsy and the injured victims rushed to the district headquarters hospital in a critical state and are currently undergoing treatment.

“We received information at around 10.44 am about the fire mishap. Fire tenders, ambulance, police amd local revenue officials rushed to the spot. But four people died and four others sustained critical injuries. The injured were rushed to Khurda DHH. The unit was running sans fire license to manufacture firecrackers,” informed Khurda Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy.

As per treating doctors, two of the injured persons, identified as Maheswar Behera and Dolagobinda Behera, will be shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Their condition is critical and they have sustained 70 per cent burn injuries, they said.

 

 

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