37 killed in Sivakasi fire Serial Blasts Spark Blaze At Cracker Unit

Sivakasi: At least 37 workers were killed and more than 70 others injured when a series of powerful explosions ripped through a large fireworks unit in Sivakasi on Wednesday. The Tamil Nadu town is the hub of the country's fireworks industry. 

    Officials quoted doctors in Sivakasi as saying that 31 
bodies were recovered from the site of the blasts at Om Shakthi Fireworks Ltd. Six workers died in hospitals in Madurai, 85km away. Many victims were charred in the blaze that spread after the blasts while several survivors are said to be critical. 
    Such was the devastation caused by the fire and the explosions that 40 of the 48 sheds in the complex were reduced to rubble. Eyewitnesses told police that many people were killed when they rushed to the aid of the workers caught in the block where the first blasts went off at 12.15pm. 
    A state revenue official said the death toll in the tragedy was higher than in any other accident in Sivakasi over the past 20 years, a numbing reminder of the lack of regulation in the fireworks industry in Tamil Nadu. 
THE DEATH FACTORY 
Major accidents in TN's fireworks hub over the last four years July 7, 2009 | 22 killed in fire at unit in Usilampatti near Madurai 
July 20, 2009 | 11 die after fire at unit near Sivakasi 
June 16, 2010 | 4 killed at Vadapatti near Sivakasi 
Aug 3, 2011 | 5 killed when shed collapses after explosion at Vadiyur near Sivakasi 
Aug 6, 2011 | 7 workers killed after chemicals catch fire at unit in Sivakasi 
Dec 27, 2011 | 4 die in blast while packing firecrackers in Sivakasi 
INDIA'S WORST FIRES 
Dec 9, 2011 | More than 90 die in killer blaze at Kolkata's AMRI Hospital 
July 16, 2004 | 94 kids charred to death in a fire accident at a school in Kumbakonam, TN 
June 13, 1997 | 59 killed and over 100 injured in Delhi's Uphaar cinema blaze 
April 10, 2006 | 50 charred to death in a fire at a consumer electronic goods fair at Meerut 
Jan 23, 2004 | 49 killed and 50 injured in a fire during a wedding at a Tiruchi wedding hall Unit worked without licence 
Sivakasi: The licence of Sivakasi's Om Shakthi Fireworks, where a major blaze killed at least 35 workers on Wednesday, was suspended by the deputy controller of explosives on August 28 after an inspection showed that the unit had flouted several norms, including exceeding the limit of chemicals it was permitted to stock. However, the unit had not ceased to function. Instead, employees said they were forced to speed up work after their licence was revoked to meet existing commitments. 
    Almost all the victims were daily wage workers paid a maximum of Rs 150 per day. Their wages were similar to those of the workforce in the authorized 750-odd firecracker manufacturing units and hundreds of smaller unlicensed units. A team of three experts from the office of controller of explosives that inspected the factory after the accident said the explosion could have been caused by excessive stocks of explosive materials. 
    "There were about 300 workers in the unit, or around seven to eight people in a room, which is a violation of safety norms," M Mahalakshmi, secretary of Sivakasi Cracker and Matchstick Units Workers' Association, said. She said the rules permitted only four workers in a room. "The 10sqft rooms on the factory floor were too close to each other and some of these rooms were used to stock chemicals while in others labourers hand-rolled crackers," an official said. 
    District Revenue Officer R Raju said there were only 120 to 150 workers in the factory at the time of the accident. But villagers of Mudhalipatti said four buses and three vans full of workers were ferried from various villages to Om Shakthi Fireworks unit every day. 
    The bodies of 31 victims have been identified. Police have sent them for postmortem in Sivakasi and Sattur government hospitals. "Many of the dead were onlookers who had rushed to the firecracker unit," Raju confirmed. The prime minister expressed deep shock over the tragedy and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased. Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa, too, announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the dead, Rs 25,000 to the severely injured and Rs 10,000 to those with minor injuries.

Relatives mourn outside the Sivakasi fireworks plant