At least 10 dead, dozen injured in Odisha firecracker blasts

Bhubaneswar:  A day before Diwali, at least 10 persons, including two minor children, were on Wednesday, killed and over a dozen injured in separate fire accidents in Odisha.

Reports from Balasore said at least eight persons were killed and five others injured as explosives meant for making crackers went off at Bahabalpur. 

The injured persons were rushed to Balasore district hospital. Reports from Rourkela said a major fire broke out at the cracker market near Power House Road claiming life of a person and gutting as many as 48 cracker shops.

The deceased, identified as Biswajit Jena, was sleeping at a cracker shop when the tragedy struck early on Wednesday morning. 

Another person sustained injuries in the incident and was admitted to Rourkela Government Hospital.

The mishap took place at around 2.30 am reducing the shops to ashes within a few minutes.  Besides, 18 motorcycles were damaged.

Nine fire brigade units rushed to the spot and managed to douse the flames, said Rourkela deputy superintendent of police Pradyumna Kumar Mishra

Properties reportedly worth over Rs 1 crore were damaged in the fire mishap, reports said. The reason behind the fire was yet to be ascertained.

Reports from Puri said a two-year-old girl was killed when crackers went off at Bilipada under Laxminarayanpur gram panchayat. 

Over 12 persons injured in the accident were rushed to Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, said officials.