Five persons were charred to death while 10 others sustained injuries in a fire cracker unit blast at Gokulapadu village under S. Rayavaram police station limits in Visakhapatnam district on Sunday. All the 15 were workers in the licensed cracker unit.
The dead were identified as N. Satyavathi (28), L. Seshamma (40), S. Ramana (27), S. Lakshmi (50) and M. Sattibabu (45). The blast occurred at around 5 p.m. and according to the villagers it was heard even 2 km away.
On hearing the blast, villagers rushed to the cracker unit located in an agricultural field. However, within minutes the entire unit was burnt. The villagers managed to pull out the injured, while five of the workers were charred beyond recognition.
According to Superintendent of Police Koya Praveen five of the injured who sustained critical burns were administered first aid at the Nakapalli area hospital and later shifted to Seven Hills Hospital in Visakhapatnam. The rest were shifted to King George Hospital. The areas around Anakapalli, S Rayavaram, Rambilli and Yellamanchilli in Visakhapatnam district are known to house both legal and illegal cracker units. On January 26, this year, two workers died while two others were injured in a blast at an illegal cracker unit at Narayanpuram village in Rambilli mandal.
“We had visited this particular unit owned by one Nookaraju, a few weeks ago, and it has a valid licence till March 31, 2016. At time of inspection, every thing was in order at the unit. But it is learnt that he had recently got a huge order ahead of the marriage season,” said Mr. Praveen.
According to the police, there was huge stock of explosives due to the pending orders and the unit had employed 15 persons, compared to its usual strength of four to five workers. The exact cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained.
10 others sustain injuries, condition of five stated to be critical
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