Bhagalpur: 14 dead in firecracker unit blast

Fourteen people, including six women and two children, died and 10 others suffered serious injuries in Bihar’s Bhagalpur town in a massive explosion that ripped through the densely populated locality of Kajwalichak, whose inhabitants were said to be involved in illegal firecracker business, police said on Friday.

Fourteen people, including six women and two children, died and 10 others suffered serious injuries in Bihar’s Bhagalpur town in a massive explosion that ripped through the densely populated locality of Kajwalichak, whose inhabitants were said to be involved in illegal firecracker business, police said on Friday.

Rescue operations underway in Bhagalpur on Friday. (PTI)

Station house officer of the local Tatarpur police station, Sanjay Kumar Sudhanu, has been suspended for dereliction of duty and a special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the case, Bhagalpur’s senior superintendent of police Babu Ram said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he had spoken to chief minister Nitish Kumar regarding the incident, and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Bihar’s director general of police (DGP) Sanjiv Kumar Singhal said the two-storeyed house, where firecrackers were being manufactured, collapsed in the explosion. Two other houses in the vicinity, owned by Mahendra Mandal and Raj Kumar Shah, also blew up while window panes and roof of other houses were damaged.

The blast occurred on the ground floor of the house owned by one Mohammad Azad Malik. While Kajwalichak falls under the jurisdiction of Tatarpur police station, Kotwali police station is situated barely 100 metres from the spot.

The DGP told reporters that one Lilawati Devi (55) and her family members, residing at Malik’s house as tenants for a long time, were involved in illegal manufacturing of firecrackers. Among the dead are five members of the same family — Lilawati herself, Pinki Devi (30), Aarti Kumari (24), Pinki’s son Priyansu Kumar (14) and Aarti’s son Ayansh Kumar (2).

Five members of another family — Mahendra Mandal, his wife Sheela Devi (55) , son Sunil Mandal (28), Nandani Devi (25) and her son Moon Kumar (3) — also died in the incident. Mahendra’s son Navin Mandal was injured in the incident.

The bodies of Lilawati’s neighbour Raj Kumar Shah, a tea vendor, and his son Rahul Kumar were found from the debris later. Seven members of the family were injured in the incident. Neighbour Ganesh Prasad Singh (60) and Urmila Devi also died.

The DGP said Lilawati, a widow, was involved in illegal cracker manufacturing unit while Azad ran an iron grill manufacturing unit in the same premises. “Mahendra and his family members were also involved in illegal trade and his brother Suresh Mandal and three others had died on October 24, 2002, in a similar incident,” Singhal said, adding that police had filed a charge sheet against the accused in that case.

He said police recovered plastic sheets, loose explosives like ammonium nitrate and sulphur from the spot.

According to locals, the explosion took place around 11.35 pm on Thursday and was magnified by crackers stored or manufactured in the house. The blast was so powerful that it could be heard two kilometers away from the spot, they said.