At least four persons were killed and as many others injured on Monday morning following a powerful firecracker explosion in a house at Bhusandapur in Khordha district.
The incident occurred while the victims were making firecrackers inside the house ahead of the Dola Utsav. The reason behind the blast was yet to be ascertained.
Being informed, Fire Service personnel rushed to the spot and managed to rescue four people and rushed them to the local hospital. The house where the victims were manufacturing the firecrackers was completely damaged.
The conditions of the injured were stated to be critical.
When contacted, Khordha Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy said, “I got the information about the mishap at around 10:45 am and Fire Service, police and revenue teams were sent to the spot immediately. The critically-injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, where they are being attended to by a special team of doctors. Now, the top priority is to provide the best medical care to the injured persons.”
He added, “Regarding the four deaths, we will conduct a thorough probe to find out from where they had procured the raw materials and why they were making the firecrackers in the house. Action will be taken based on the probe report.”