Five dead, 11 injured in cracker unit blast

Five persons were killed and 11 others, including six women, sustained injuries when a large stock of explosives blew up in a cracker manufacturing unit at Thuruvai in Villupuram district on Sunday.

The names of the four of the dead were given as S. Muthu, A Balamurugan of Anaiyur and M. Elumalai and C Gopal of Villupuram.

The police gave the names of the injured as Vasu (23), Parvathy (63), Saravanan (33), Malarkodi (50), Velu (38), Vasantha (45), Poovatha (52), Ramar (38), Pachaivazhi (50), Kalimuthu (50), and Kannagi (40). All the injured have been admitted to the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) here.

JIPMER sources said the condition of one of the injured is serious.

According to the police, a case has been registered against N. Ramesh of Vanur who was the owner of the cracker manufacturing unit.

A group of people were engaged in manufacturing crackers when the accident occured, the police said. The cracker manufacturing unit was razed to the ground in the impact of the explosion.