One child was killed and four others were injured in an explosion in Bulandshahr on Monday.
The police said six children aged between four and 16 years were playing with chemicals when the mishap took place. The incident took place in a village of Chaprawat in Bulandshahr at around 11:30 am.
According to Sikandrabad Circle Officer Satyendra Singh, the children had put chemicals used to scare birds from fields and ripen fruits in a mortar and pestle and were playing with it when there was a sudden explosion. He said five children were injured in the explosion, and a 4-year-old child among them died.
The children were later admitted at Meerut medical college hospital and one of them was referred to Delhi.
Singh noted that these chemicals, especially potash, were readily available in shops in the area owing to their common usage.
Earlier in June, an explosion had killed 12 people at a fireworks factory in Hapur.
In Budaun, a 38-year-old man died after a shrapnel allegedly pierced his neck when a cracker burst on Diwali night, police said on Tuesday.
The incident took place at Morubala village in Zarifnagar police station limits during Diwali celebrations on Monday night. The deceased was identified as Chhatrapal.
A man, identified as Dheerendra, was bursting firecrackers inside a glass on Diwali. As a cracker exploded, the glass shattered and a broken piece pierced the neck of Chhatrapal, who was passing by, the police said.
As Chhatrapal fell on the ground bleeding from the neck, Dheerendra fled the scene, they added.
Chhatrapal was taken to the community health centre from where he was referred to Aligarh. He died on his way to Aligarh, the police added.
Circle officer Sahaswan Chandrapal Singh said a case had been registered against Dheerendra and efforts were on to arrest him.
The deceased’s body was sent for post-mortem.
In Gonda, a firecracker kept in the kitchen of a two-storey house suddenly exploded in Sanchari locality under Nawabganj police station. This broke the roof of the house and a woman and her son died in the accident.
In Bareilly, on the occasion of Deepawali, a young man died while burning `jugadu’ firecrackers.
According to eyewitnesses, after the youth's firecrackers were burnt, he started exploding sulfur potash by putting it in an iron pipe and pressing the chemical with a bar. Due to the explosion, the pipe became hot and it burst and a shrapnel pierced the young man's stomach due to which he died.
The victim was identified as Mohan Mohan (24) of Mohalla Buxaria area of Faridpur town of Bareilly district.