At least 11 persons were killed and nearly 174 injured in a powerful explosion and subsequent blaze at a firecracker factory near Harda town of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, a senior official said.
Some videos of the incident that surfaced on social media showed the massive fire with intermittent explosions taking place at the site and people frantically running to save themselves.
The videos showed thick plumes of smoke emanating from the factory located at Bairagarh on Magardha Road on the outskirts of Harda town, about 150km from state capital Bhopal.
“So far, 11 casualties have been reported and nearly 174 are injured in the Harda incident. The injured persons are out of danger,” additional chief secretary of the state home department Sanjay Dubey said.
Two owners of the factory — identified as Rajesh Agrawal and Somesh Agrawal — were arrested from Sarangpur in Rajgarh district, while one more person named Rafiq Khan was detained on Tuesday evening, Harda superintendent of police Sanjeev Kanchan told reporters. The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), he said. Khan had been detained for questioning, the SP said without providing further details about him. However, police sources said Khan was said to be the manager of the factory. The cause of the explosion was not yet known, officials said earlier.
Narmadapuram commissioner Pawan Sharma said: “So far, 174 people have been rescued from the incident site — 34 were referred to Bhopal and Hoshangabad, while 140 were undergoing treatment in the district hospital. One death has been reported from among the people who were referred, and 10 deaths have been reported from the district hospital.”
“The fire has been doused, and debris is being removed from the site. Investigation into the matter is underway, but now the rescue mission is our priority,” he added.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav visited Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal to meet the injured persons. “Twelve injured persons were brought here, one of them is no more. I have met the injured persons and the government is making all the necessary arrangements for them. Eleven people have died in the incident and the rescue operation is still underway,” Yadav told reporters.
The Madhya Pradesh government constituted a three-member committee to be headed by the additional chief secretary (home) to conduct a detailed probe into the explosion at the cracker unit.
The other members of the high-powered committee are additional director-general of police of intelligence Jaideep Prasad and PWD secretary R.K. Mehra. The panel is also mandated to fix responsibility among officials who were supposed to prevent such incidents.
A video shot from the helicopter carrying state minister Uday Pratap Singh to Harda showed that the factory had been reduced to rubble.
According to eyewitnesses, several bodies were lying on the spot, while many people were reported missing after the explosion-cum-blaze at the factory.
An injured being shifted to a hospital after a massive fire broke out in a firecracker factory in Harda town. PTI picture
The intensity of the explosions was so high that the body parts of the victims were flung far away from the spot, and in some videos, people can be seen collecting what appeared to be human remains. “I have not been able to find my son so far,” said the father of an eight-year-old boy who went missing during the explosion.
The distraught man, identified only as Raju, worked at the factory, and his son had come there to deliver food to him.
“My son Ganesh handed me lunch just as the first explosion occurred. He was running ahead, but I have not been able to find him so far,” Raju said.
Raju said more than 150 people worked at the factory and he was lucky to have escaped unhurt.
Another factory worker, Rukhsar Bano, who suffered injuries, said the ground shook at the time of the first blast. “When we heard the blast, we ran frantically and came out of the building. There was fire all around,” she said.