Twelve people were killed and 10 others seriously injured in an explosion at an illegal fire cracker manufacturing godown unit at Vakatippa village in coastal East Godavari district on Monday.
District collector Neetu Prasad who rushed to the village from Rajahmundry said that about 30 persons including 10 women were working at the cracker unit which was operating illegally at the time of explosion. The death toll is likely to go up as several workers have suffered severe burn injuries, say the officials.
Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has ordered a full fledged probe into the incident and also announced an ex-gratia of Rs2 lakhs for each of the deceased families. He is likely to visit the cracker hit village on Tuesday, say official sources.
"So far only eight bodies have been recovered from the site," said a senior police official. The injured have been shifted to Kakinada and Peethapuram corporate hospitals. One of the workers Sathibabu died of injuries at the Kakinada hospital. A glowing cigarette butt is said to have caused the blast, says an eye witnesses at the blast site.
Superintendent of police Ravi Prakash said the fire broke out during a lunch break at the factory. Several fire engines are still trying to put out the flames at the factory which is located near Kakinada, about 160 km from the port city of Visakhapatnam.
After the huge loss of properties and crops in the north coastal districts in the severe cyclonic storm Hudhud, the government had appealed to people of state to celebrate Diwali only with lights (diyas) and to avoid bursting crackers. 'Donate your cracker money for relief and rehabilitation of the cyclone hit in Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam anjd Vizianagaram districts ' Chandrababu Naidu had said in a special appeal .
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