Chennai: At least six persons have died so far in a huge fire at a firecracker shop in Sankarpuram town of Kallakurichi district of Tamil Nadu. In this incident, several people got injured and they are now under the treatment now.
Following the incident, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed grief and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured who are being treated in emergency wards.
Senior Police Official said that the deceased is suspected to be the owner and workers, at the firecracker shop put up in Sankarapuram ahead of Diwali. The people who sustained injuries in the blast were admitted to the Kallakurichi government hospital.
Fire tenders from Sankarapuram and Kallakurichi rushed to the spot to control the flames, even as the sudden blast leading to the explosion of the firecrackers caused a panic in the town.
According to the media report, In the past, CM Stalin had requested the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Haryana to reconsider the removal of the ban on the sale of firecrackers and allow the sale of green firecrackers. In a letter to the Chief Ministers of these 4 states, Stalin had said that the livelihood of 8 lakh workers involved in the cracker manufacturing industry in the state is in a difficult phase.
(_Vinayak)