Man killed, house collapses in Kovai cracker blast

Coimbatore: An unidentified man and a dog died in an intensive explosion triggered by fire crackers manufactured locally and stocked illegally in a house at Keerai Thottam near Kembatty Colony in Coimbatore on Thursday.

The asbestos roofed house almost collapsed, while neighbouring houses too suffered heavy damages in the blast.

The intensity of the blast was so high that it was even felt by residents living a few km away.

“When I first heard the thundering explosion at 11.05 am, I felt a mild tremor as objects in my house shook for a few seconds. All the residents of our area ran out of their houses to the street fearing that it could be a bomb blast,” said M. Sabari Girish, a goldsmith, who resides a little distance away in Ashok Nagar area.

On receiving information, the fire and rescue personnel, who rushed to the spot retrieved the body of the unidentified man, who was found buried under the building debris.

“They are called ‘lala vedi’ in local parlance. When they are lit and thrown into water, they explode, leaving fishes stunned or dead in large numbers. As they cost less, it might have also been kept for sale for Deepavali. These crackers, manufactured elsewhere were just stocked in the house illegally,” said R Srinivasalu, inspector (law & order), Selvapuram.

“It was a powerful explosion. Hence the damage was so severe,” said P Annadurai, station officer, fire service (South).

The city police after, preliminary examination, said that it was only crackers meant for blast fishing.

Initially police suspected it to be a cylinder blast, but later confirmed it as a explosion by locally made crackers and also seized a few of them from the blast site.

The cops are, however yet to know the identity of the man who died in the blast that happened in the house owned by 40-year-old Devi. She was away when the incident happened.