Man dies, son injured in Gopalganj blast

One person was killed and another injured in a blast at a house, apparently caused by firecrackers, in Bihar’s Gopalganj district on Wednesday, days after a similar but more powerful explosion in Bhagalpur left 15 people dead, police said.

One person was killed and another injured in a blast at a house, apparently caused by firecrackers, in Bihar’s Gopalganj district on Wednesday, days after a similar but more powerful explosion in Bhagalpur left 15 people dead, police said.

At the explosion site in Bhagalpur on March 4. (ANI)

The deceased has been identified as Mohammad Khalim Ali, a resident of Bathua Bazar locality under Phulwaria police station limits. Ali’s son Mohammad Akhtar Ali was grievously injured in the explosion.

Police said the blast blew off the roof of Khalim’s house and flung his charred body several feet away outside the house. When locals reached the spot, they found Akhtar in flames. They doused the fire and rushed him to the district hospital, from where he was referred to a hospital in Gorakhpur of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh in a critical condition.

Police said the blast took place around 10.40 am after a cracker caught fire when some family members were preparing food beside the containers packed with firecrackers.

Top officials and police officers visited the spot after the incident.

The district administration are probing whether the fireworks unit had a valid licence or not.

“The deceased and his son were probably engaged in manufacturing firecrackers,” said Gopalganj superintendent of police Anand Kumar, adding that forensic teams from Patna and Muzaffarpur, besides bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS), were called in. The entire area is sealed for further probe.

On March 3, a powerful explosion ripped through a densely populated locality of Bhagalpur, killing 15 people and leaving 10 others seriously injured. Police claimed the occupants of the two-storied house where the blast took place were illegally manufacturing firecrackers.