11 killed in Madhya Pradesh cracker unit blast

Anup Dutta

Bhopal, February 6

At least 11 persons were killed and 174 injured after a fire broke out at a firecracker factory in Madhya Pradesh’s Harda district on Tuesday. The flames triggered several explosions, sparking panic in the nearby areas.

The factory, situated at the Bairagarh locality on Magardha road, experienced intermittent explosions at 11 am. Eventually, commuters on the road were also affected as the blaze spread with explosions continuing for about an hour, said news reports. The factory is allegedly located in a residential area.

Some footage of the incident shot by commuters across the fields showed bodies lying on a road, with a massive blaze enveloping the factory and intermittent explosions taking place at the site.

Some media reports have put the toll at 15. According to Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Sanjay Dubey nearly 170 persons were injured in the incident. The injured were out of danger, Dubey said.

Later in the evening, two owners of the factory — Rajesh Agrawal and Somesh Agrawal — were arrested. They were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, among other charges.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav termed the incident extremely painful. He announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to kin of the deceased and constituted a three-member committee to conduct a probe into the incident.

Expressing grief over the loss of lives in the accident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too announced ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of deceased from the PMNRF.

The President and several Union ministers and senior leaders have offered deepest condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. President Droupadi Murmu offered deepest condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

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