Fire at cracker shop in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district: Death toll rises to 6

Kallakurichi, Oct 27: The death toll from a fire at a cracker shop in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district on Tuesday night climbed to 6, and left at least 10 injured.

On Tuesday evening, the grocery shop, which had started selling crackers a few days ago, caught fire on the first floor where the crackers were stocked. It started exploding and fire spread through the entire building.

Fire tenders from Sankarapuram and Kallakurichi were rushed to the spot as the sudden blast leading to the explosion of the firecrackers caused a panic in the town, PTI reported. The fire was doused after two hour struggle.

The deceased have been identified as Kaleed (23), Shah Alam (24), Shake Basheer (72) and Ayyasamy (65) while the identity of the other two persons are yet to be ascertained. The cops suspect spark from an electric line to be the cause of the fire.

The injured people are being treated at the government hospital in Kallakurichi.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin took to Twitter to express condolence over the unfortunate incident and he announced an ex gratia of Rs five lakh each for the kin of the deceased. While for those wounded in the fire will be provided with a cash relief of Rs 1 lakh.

"I was deeply saddened to learn that five people were killed in a fire at a firecracker shop in Sankarapuram, Kallakurichi district. Rs 5 lakh each for the victims; Rs 1 lakh each for those in intensive care would be delivered from the #CMRF fund," Stalin tweeted.

The incidents of fire accidents at cracker shops are not uncommon. A similar incident was reported in Virudhunagar district at a firecracker unit in which 16 people were killed and left many injured.

Similarly, a fire broke out in a building that stocked firecrackers in Gujarat's Anand town in Gandhinagar district, but no casualties were reported.