Lucknow: At least seven persons died and eight injured after an explosion in a firecrackers factory in Bharwari area of Kokhraj police station of the neighbouring Kaushambi district, at around noon, on Sunday.
Those who died included owner of the factory, Shahid (35), who had licence to run the manufacturing unit. All the dead and injured were factory workers. The injured were admitted to SRN hospital in Prayagraj, where the condition of some was stated critical and doctors said the death toll was likely to climb. The cause of the accident was being ascertained by the fire department.
Prima facie it appeared that chemicals used in manufacturing crackers caught fire, causing a massive blast. The explosion was heard several kilometres from the factory. Several fire tenders and ambulances rushed to the spot.
Expressing deep sorrow over the accident, CM Yogi Adityanath ordered officials to expedite relief operations.
According to SP Kaushambi, Brijesh Srivastava, “There were several workers in the factory at the time of the accident and seven of them died, while the injured are under treatment. The owner had a licence and the factory is located far away from residential areas.”
Police said besides Shahid, the deceased were identified as Shiv Narayan, Shivkant, Ashok Kumar, and Jaichandra and efforts were on to identify two others who died. According to police, around 18 people were working at the factory when the blast took place.
Eyewitnesses said the blast was so powerful that dismembered limbs of the deceased and the injured were thrown several metres away from the site.
