Angry locals and relatives of workers blocked a highway near an explosives manufacturing unit in Nagpur district, where a blast claimed nine lives on Sunday, and demanded they be allowed to allowed to enter the premises to see the bodies.

The crowd was later dispersed, police said.

According to sources, the bodies of the victims were still inside the premises, where the blast took place at 9 am.

Nine people were killed and three others injured in the incident, police said.

A number of ambulances were stationed at the entrance gate of the Solar Industries factory, located at Bazaargaon, about 30 km rom the district headquarters.

A tense situation prevailed as nearly 200 people, including local residents and relatives of the workers, gheraoed the factory's entrance gate.

A senior police official told PTI that there were explosives near the spot.

The explosives need to be secured and bomb disposable squads were at the spot, he said.

The process of securing the explosives was underway and thereafter the bodies will be recovered, the official said.

Angry locals and relatives of the victims blocked the Amravati-Nagpur road outside the factory.

They raised slogans in front of the factory's entrance gate and blocked the Amravati-Nagpur highway, demanding that they be allowed to enter the premises to see the bodies of their kin.

The police later dispersed the crowd, an official said.

Heavy police security was deployed in the area.

The father of Aarti Sahare, who is among the deceased, told reporters that he got a message about the death of her daughter at 9.30 am and was still waiting for further information.

The blast also caused severe damage to the factory building, as per police.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a post on X termed the incident as unfortunate and condoled the death of the nine people.

The state government will provide an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has approved the decision, he said.

Fadnavis said nine people, including six women, died in the blast at Solar Industries. It is a company that manufactures drones and explosives for the armed forces, he said.

The state government stands firmly with families of the victims on this sad occasion, he said.

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