At least six people were killed and nine critically injured in an explosion at a firecracker factory in Odisha on Wednesday, PTI reported. The toll may rise as several people may be trapped beneath the debris in Balasore and rescue efforts have been hindered by rain caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, officials said.
The facility is believed to have been operated illegally. “The crackers were being made in an unauthorised manner without any legal license,” Balasore District Collector Pramod Kumar Das said. Locals claimed that the facility’s owner used to sell the products from the facility itself, PTI reported.
Four fire tenders were deployed to douse the flames and rescue the victims and over 12 ambulances took the victims to the hospital, the report said. Police are investigating the cause of the incident.
In separate incidents, one person died after a fire engulfed a firecracker shop in Rourkela. A girl died and five sustained injuries in a firecracker manufacturing facility run out of a house, reports said.
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