14 killed, 2 injured in explosions at two fireworks factories in Tamil Nadu

Police said 13 workers, including some women were killed and two others grievously injured in a series of explosions triggered by catastrophic inferno at Kanishkar Fireworks Factory at Rengapalayam village near Srivilliputhur late in the afternoon.

A group of workers were engaged in testing the newly-made aerial and other fancy varieties of crackers when the tragedy occurred.

The deceased's identity was yet to be ascertained, as the bodies were charred beyond recognition.

In another incident, one worker was killed in an explosion in a private cracker factory at Kitchanaickenpatti village near Sivakasi.

Fire tenders rushed to the two factories and doused the blaze after a couple of hours of battle.

District Collector Dr. V.P. Jeyaseelan along with senior revenue and police officials visited the factories and supervised the rescue operations.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin expressed grief over the death of workers in the twin blasts and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs. one lakh to the grievously injured people.