Fourteen workers, including 11 women, were killed in accidents at private fireworks units in Virudhunagar district on October 17.
In the first accident at Rengapalayam 13 people were killed.
In another incident at a fireworks unit in Kichanayakanpatti, a 55-year-old man died on the spot.
Fire and Rescue Service officials from multiple locations rushed to the two spots around 2 p.m.
According to preliminary inquiries, the officials said the workers were engaged in packing at the unit belonging to Sundaramurthi in Rengapalayam. They were reportedly testing some of the newly produced crackers. In the process, a blast occurred in which the workers’ in the adjacent room were burnt alive.
A fire officer said the risky way of handling the crackers’ appeared to be the prime reason. There were about 80 workers in the premises at the time of accident. As there was a continuous blast from inside, workers ran to safety in different directions, he said.
Delay in rescue
Fire emanating from the rooms and the thick smoke prevented the rescue team from proceeding forward, which caused some delay in putting out the swiftly. “The aim was to swiftly contain the fire before it started spreading,” the officer said.
There was much delay in the ambulance vehicles reaching the accident spot. Confusion prevailed for nearly an hour as the family members rushed to the work spot in search of their relatives.
The victims were identified as Anitha, 40, wife of Muniappan; Packiam, 35, wife of Jayamurugan; Guruvammal, 55, wife of Subbukani; Mahadevi, 50, wife of Seeniraj; Panchavarnam, 35, wife of Nagaraj; Tamilselvi,55, wife of Thalamuthu; Muneeswari, 32, wife of Muthuraj; Indra, 50, wife of Muruganandam; K. Lakshmi, 28, M. Chellammal, 40, K. Muthulakshmi, 36, Balamurugan, 30, son of Muthuraj and Mahendran Thangamalai, 33.
Two women workers whose names were given as Ponnuthai, 45, wife of Arumugam and Chinnathai, 34, wife of Shankar were admitted in Srivilliputtur Government Hospital. Virudhunagar District Superintendent of Police R. Srinivasa Perumal and team supervised the rescue operation.
Second incident
In the accident at a unit in Kichanayakanpatti, P. Vembu, 55, died while handling the firecrackers. A senior police officer said a case has been registered against the fireworks unit owners and the factory foreman.
Virudhunagar District Collector has ordered a probe into the incident and DRO is investigating.
CM announces solatium
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has announced solatium of ₹3 lakh each to the family of the deceased workers and ₹ 1 lakh each to the two injured persons, an official release said.
Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore has expressed condolences.
He has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release ₹10 lakh each as relief to the victims families
The Virudhunagar CITU district secretary P.N. Deva said in a statement that the government should give a compensation of ₹10 lakh each. The fireworks unit owners should also pay ₹10 lakh relief to each of the workers’ families. The officials should inspect the fireworks units and ensure that there were no compromise on safety aspects. “Without inspections, certificates were issued. This has led to loss of lives,” he blamed and urged the Chief Minister to directly intervene. Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore has xpressed condolences.
Meanwhile, another trade union member Radhakrishnan said with the 11 casualties in Virudhunagar district, the deaths in Tamil Nadu this month alone stood at 37 with 12 fatalities reported in Ariyalur on October 9 and 14 in Hosur (Karnataka border) on October 10. The government should be pro-active in preventing the deaths rather than giving compensations, he demanded.
