Three dead, three injured in brick kiln furnace blast in Bengal’s Basirhat

The victims were labourers lighting up the furnace used for baking clay bricks in Basirhat area of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district

KOLKATA: Three people were killed and three more were injured in a blast at a brick kiln in the Basirhat area of Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday evening, police said.

Basirhat SP Joby Thomas SK said three people pulled out from the spot died later at the hospital (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The victims were labourers lighting up the furnace used for baking clay bricks when the structure blew apart, witnesses told the police.

“We rescued six people, of whom three died in hospital. Three others are undergoing treatment,” said Joby Thomas SK, Basirhat superintendent of police.

Local people and relatives of the labopurers told police that more people could be trapped under the debris. Earth movers were called in on Wednesday night to clear the remains of the furnace.