2 firecracker unit blasts in TN leave 14 dead

Chennai: At least 14 people were killed and many other injured in explosions at two separate firecracker manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu‘s Sivakasi on Tuesday, police said.

Police said that six of the deceased are women.

With Diwali nearing, the firecracker units at Sivakasi are busy and recording brisk sales. Police said that the identities of the deceased are not known and said that they are in the process of identifying the deceased. A week before, seven people have lost their lives in a firecracker unit explosion at Sivakasi and in the past 15 days, 30 people have lost their lives in five separate incidents of firecracker explosions.

Sivakasi is known is the firecracker capital of India with an annual turnover of around Rs 6,000 crore.