The owner and foreman of a firecracker factory are believed to have fled the scene of an explosion at the facility on April 19. According to PEOPLE, authorities are working to find them.
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The initial explosion at the Vanaja Fireworks Industry in Kattanarpatti, near Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu, India, resulted in at least 25 deaths. Four were left seriously injured.
What Happened at the Firework Facility?
The factory was supposed to be closed. However, reports indicate that between 50 and 100 people were present at the time of the incident.
"The explosion was so powerful that three rooms were reduced to rubble and several adjacent structures were also damaged," said a local officer.
So far, authorities have identified 22 of the victims, most of whom were women. During rescue operations, a second explosion occurred, injuring 13 more people. According to District Collector NO Sukhaputra, none of those injured suffered serious burns.
There Is An Investigation Into the Explosion
Police are also working to determine the cause of the blast. They said the workers were believed to have been mixing chemicals.
To aid the investigation, four teams have been formed to find and arrest the factory owner, believed to be the wife of a former local village leader, and the foreman. Sukhaputra noted that the facility should not have been operating on a Sunday.
Additionally, reports state that the Firecrackers and Matchbox Manufacturers Association allowed only 25 workers on the factory site at a time. The law restricts chemical mixing to between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. The explosion took place around 3 p.m. local time.
Ravula Sridhar Reddy, a leader of the BRS political party, called the explosion an example of a "complete security lapse." He advocated for better security measures.
M.K. Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, wrote on social media that the deaths of the factory workers caused "immense sorrow." Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his condolences to the families of the victims. He called the incident "deeply distressing."
