At least three people, including two women and a child, were killed and two others were injured in an explosion at an illegal firecracker manufacturing factory near Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district, news agency ANI reported on Monday. Rescue operations are underway, it added.
More details are awaited.
Sivakasi town, known as the country's fireworks capital, has seen frequent accidents. In February this year, 12 people were killed and 36 others critically injured in February in Virudhnagar after a fire broke out in a firecracker factory in Sivakasi area.
Sivakasi town, which is known as kutti or mini Japan for its manufacturing activities, produces nearly 90 per cent of the country’s firecrackers, providing livelihood to an estimated more than 800,000 people. Every year, Virudhunagar district manufactures crackers with an industry value of ₹2,000 crore.