Tamil Nadu cracker shop catches fire, 32 killed

Chennai, Oct 17: Diwali celebrations begun on a negative note for a village in Tamil Nadu when a firecracker shop caught on fire killing at least 32 people.

The incident took place on Friday, Oct 16 evening in Palipattu village in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.

"Thirty two charred bodies have been recovered after the blaze. The dead include shop workers as well as firecracker shoppers," an official of Thiruvallur collectorate was quoted as sayting in a news agency report on the mishap.

The owner of the building Jaishankar and the person who ran the shop, Anandakumar have been arrested. Twelve people from Andhra Pradesh and four from Tamil Nadu were reportedly working in the shop.

Many people had gathered to buy crackers at the shop which was functioning out of a godown located behind a rice mill in the village.

The fire which started suddenly gutted out the shop and left scores injured too. Police are investigating into the cause of the accident.

OneIndia News