Bhopal: At least 27 workers were on Wednesday killed in an explosion at a firecracker factory at Kater, nearly 5 km from district headquarters town of Balaghat, in Madhya Pradesh.
Police sources said the death toll may go up with bodies of victims still being extricated from the blast site.
“Fifteen bodies have so far been removed from the area. We could see at least a dozen more in the debris inside the factory,” a senior police officer told this newspaper.
“The explosion that took place around 3.30 pm was so powerful that even factory walls collapsed under its impact,” ADG, G. Janardan said.
According to the police, nearly 50 labourers were working in the factory, built illegally, when the fire broke out.
A woman worker injured in the incident reported the matter to the local police that led the administration to launch the rescue operation.
The powerful explosion threw several bodies 100 m away from the blast site.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered a probe and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next kin of the deceased.
