Odisha: 7 killed in explosion at firecracker factory in Balasore

BHUBANESWAR: Tragedy struck a village in Balasore district on the eve of Diwali as at least seven persons, including a child were killed and six others seriously injured in an explosion at an unlicensed cracker manufacturing unit on Wednesday. Police suspect that the casualty may go up.
"We so far recovered bodies of five persons from the cracker manufacturing unit. The six injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital.District SP is at the spot," director general of police (DGP) Rajendra Prasad Sharma told TOI. Sharma said the cracker unit was being run illegally by a man, whose son also died in the explosion. However, police could immediately not confirm about the condition of the cracker unit's owner.
"We are trying to find out the circumstances, leading to the explosion. Prima facie, it was found that around 12 persons were preparing explosives in the manufacturing unit when the crackers went off," Sharma said.
Earlier in the day, one person died and several others were injured after massive fire engulfed cracker shops at Rourkela in the early hours. In another mishap, one person was killed and four others lost their eyes following explosion in a cracker factory at Pipili in Puri district on Wednesday. "We already alerted all SPs to coordinate with all district collectors and medical officers to ensure emergency arrangements in hospitals," Sharma said.