Blast at firecracker unit in Mangalore claims five lives

A powerful blast ripped apart a firecracker-manufacturing unit at Budderi village in Puttur near Mangalore in Karnataka on Sunday, claiming five lives.

Police said the explosion took place when Fakeer Saab, who used to manufacture firecrackers, and his son Rafiq were loading a consignment of crackers onto an autorickshaw parked in front of his house.

Due to the impact of the blast, the autorickshaw was thrown fifty metres away while the concrete canopy of Fakeer Sab’s house crashed. Apart from Fakeer Saab. 55, and his son Rafiq, 20, the auto-driver Vinay were also killed in the ghastly blast. A neighbour Vijay Gowda and the ten-year-old son of the neighbour Dikshit also lost their lives.

Police said the impact of the blast had shook the whole area and the dead bodies of the victims were found strewn around. The gutted and mangled autorickshaw had landed atop a nearby tree.

The fire force personnel, who were pressed into service soon after the explosion, took several hours to locate the bodies, which were found lying several metres away from the blast.

Fakir Sab’s wife Roshna Bibi and an on-looker Nonayya were among the two persons, who sufferred injuries in the blast. The other women in Fakir Sab’s house were saved as they were not in the house at the time of the blast.

Police said the explosion could have been triggered either due to friction while loading the crackers onto an autorickshaw or due to some source of ignition like a beedi, being used by one of the victims.

Superintendent of Dakshina Kannada district police B Dayanand visited the spot and said samples recovered from the scene of the explosion will be sent to forensic laboratory for further tests. The police also said Fakir Sab’s cracker manufacturing unit was “illegal”. “We have to find out the nature of chemicals used for manufacturing these crackers”, a police official said.