26-year-old technician dead, 3 injured as gas cylinder explodes while filming bomb blast scene on SJ Suryah's Killer set

A tragic accident on the set of SJ Suryah's upcoming film Killer puts workers' safety back into focus as the incident left one dead and three injured.

A tragic accident on the set of SJ Suryah’s upcoming film, Killer, in the early hours of Wednesday left one technician dead and at least three others injured. A balloon gas cylinder exploded during the filming of a key scene. The technicians were rushed to the hospital, but one of them succumbed to his injuries.

SJ Suryah has yet to release a statement about the accident on the set of Killer.

Accident on SJ Suryah’s set leaves 1 dead, 3 injured

Sources state that the incident occurred around 5 AM on Wednesday at the Binny Mills complex in Perambur, Chennai. While a bomb blast scene was being filmed, a balloon gas cylinder being used for the shoot suddenly exploded. Technicians named Madhan (26), from Maduravoyal, Sakthivel (27) from Kundrathur, Surya (23) from Maduravoyal, and Dinakaran (24) from Nerkundram sustained injuries. Other sources say five members were injured, though there’s no official confirmation yet.

All four were rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, where Madhan was declared dead, and the rest are undergoing treatment. Police and rescue teams rushed to the scene and carried out operations, state sources. Police have registered a case, and an investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of the explosion, whether proper safety protocols were followed or if the accident was caused by a technical malfunction. All the injured technicians belong to the special effects department, say sources.

At the time of writing, it is unknown whether Suryah was present on set when the incident took place. The actor-filmmaker, who is marking his return to direction with the film, also starring Preethi Asrani, has yet to release a statement. The incident, however, brings conversations of workers’ safety on Tamil film sets back into focus.

Past incidents in Kollywood

Most recently, a 28-year-old art department member named Karthikeyan was fatally electrocuted while erecting a set for Rajinikanth and Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer 2 at a studio in Panaiyur. In 2025, 54-year-old stuntman Elumalai died after falling 20 feet from a platform while shooting an action sequence for Karthi and PS Mithran’s Sardar 2 at LV Prasad Studios.

The same year, stunt professional SM Raju died during a car-toppling sequence for Pa Ranjith and Sobhita Dhulipala’s Vettuvam. In 2020, on Shankar and Kamal Haasan’s Indian 2 set, three assistant directors—Krishna, Chandran, and Madhu—were killed, and nine others were injured, when a massive heavy-duty lighting crane crashed on them at EVP Film City.

Shooting for Killer has been halted, and further details of the ongoing case are awaited.