A 19-year-old youth, identified as Dinesh, succumbed to burns at Victoria hospital on Wednesday, taking the death toll in the Attibele firecracker tragedy to 15.
Dinesh was a resident of Tamil Nadu and was hired for packing and uploading work at the gowdown-cum-shop where the fire broke out. He, along with three others, sustained burns and was rescued by the Fire and Emergency Services personnel and admitted to hospital, where he succumbed.
The other three injured are recovering and are out of danger, Inspector General of Police (Central Range) B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda said.
Meanwhile, a joint team of police continued to crack down on the cracker shop and registered 19 cases against the shop owners for violating the licensing condition. The police are disconnecting the power supply to the cracker shops drawn from the nearby poles as a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward incidents. Many cracker shops in and around Attibele were shut down, fearing backlash from the enforcement agencies and escaped.
