Vellore: A sudden fire mishap ripped through a fireworks unit at Senambakkam near here on Saturday, killing one woman worker instantly and critically injuring four other workers of the unit including two women.
The fire in a storage room of the fireworks factory caused a huge explosion, shattering nearby structures, police said. Fire and Rescue Services personnel who rushed to the spot battled hard for nearly an hour to douse the flames.
While one of the woman workers Deepa was found charred to death inside the factory premises itself, four other workers - including Sheela, Pushpa and Kaviarasan- suffered extensive 90 per cent burns and were rushed to the Adukamparai government hospital here.
Vellore tashildar Thiru Balaji, district SP, Thiru Pagalavan, were among the top officials who visited the factory and did a spot investigation. Preliminary inquiries reveal that the soaring day temperature and an electrical short circuit could have led to the fire that devastated the fireworks unit. Further investigations are on. Residents of the locality have been demanding to relocate the fireworks unit.
