4 persons die in firecracker explosion in Odisha’s Khurda district

Mishap occurred when victims were making crackers for forthcoming Dola festival

By Swagatika Bhutia

Bhubaneswar, March 6: At least four persons were on Monday morning killed and as many others injured following a powerful firecracker explosion in a house at Bhusandapur village in Odisha’s Khurda district.

The incident occurred while the victims were reportedly making firecrackers inside the house ahead of the Dola Utsav. The reason behind the blast is yet to be ascertained.

On being informed, fire services personnel rushed to the spot and managed to rescue four people and rushed them to the local hospital. The house where the victims were manufacturing the firecrackers has been completely damaged in the explosion, reports said.

The health condition of the injured was stated to be critical during the filing of the last report.

When contacted, Khurda Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy said, “I got the information about the mishap at around 10:45 am and the fire services, local police and revenue teams were sent to the spot immediately. The critically injured have been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital where they are being attended to by a special team of doctors. Now the top priority is to provide the best medical care to the injured persons.”

“Regarding the four deaths, all I can say is we will conduct a thorough probe to find out from where they had procured the raw materials and why they were making the firecrackers in the house. Action will be taken based on the probe report,” he added.