Four workers were killed and another person was injured on Saturday following an explosion at a firecracker manufacturing unit near here, police said.

The workers were killed on the spot and the cause for the explosion and blaze is suspected to be mishandling the chemical ingredients, the raw materials, that go into the making of firecrackers, a senior district police official said.

Another person who was in the vicinity was injured and buildings --rooms earmarked for specific tasks involved in manufacturing processes-- have suffered damage, he added.

Chief Minister M K Stalin, expressing anguish and conveying his condolences to the kin of the deceased, announced a solatium of Rs three lakh to each of the families of the four dead workers.

The explosion occurred on June 29 morning at a fireworks unit based at Panthuvarpatti village in Sattur taluk of Virudhunagar district. The deceased were identified later as 45-year old Rajkumar hailing from Achankulam village, Marisamy (40) belonging to Nadusurankudi, and Selvakumar (35) and Mohan (30) from Vembakottai.

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