Blast Leaves Behind A Macabre; Relatives Find It Difficult To Identify Bodies
1 March 2026 2:03 AM IST1 March 2026 2:03 AM IST
Police traced limbs and body parts in the paddy fields and canal waters
Firefighters douse the flames after an explosion occurred at the Suryasri fireworks unit in Vetapalem of Samarlakota mandal in Kakinada district on Saturday. — BY ARRANGEMENT
Kakinada: It was macabre at the firecracker unit near Vetlapalem village in Samalkot mandal of Kakinada district on Saturday. The blast ripped through the unit and people working therein. Mutilated limbs all over the spot presented a nightmarish scene.
Police traced limbs and body parts in the paddy fields and canal waters. Several bodies had no heads or torsos.
It turned out to be a testing time for revenue and police officials to identify the bodies.
Mobs had gathered soon after the blast unmindful of the risk. Kakinada assistant superintendent of police Manish Patil and his team had to clear the way for ambulances to come in along the narrow canal road to take away the injured to hospitals.
Villagers of Vetlapalem suffered a jolt when they heard the blast and ran out of their houses. Sathar Bibi, who runs a kiosk nearby, said she had been sleeping when she heard the blast and saw sheets of her roof fly away.
Amid the strewn limbs, relatives and next of kin could be seen trying to identify bodies. Katta Usharani had been searching for her mother Nookala Devi. She said though she could not trace her mother, her name is on the list of dead.
Tumpala Narendra, a mason of Vetlapalem, had been at work when he heard the blast. When he realised that the blast had been at the firecracker unit, he came rushing, only to find his mother T. Lova (38) dead.
Narendra and his mother had started working after their father Ramu fell ill. Narender said his mother had wanted to get his sister married. “We have turned into orphans,” he lamented.
Roja, wife of K. Srinu, who is being treated at Government General Hospital in Kakinada, could be seen crying and pleading to doctors to save the life of her husband.
Vetlapalem village, to which most of the dead belong, is grief stricken.
District collector S. Shan Mohan and Kakinada SP G. Bindu Madhav are closely monitoring the relief operations.
It turned out to be a testing time for revenue and police officials to identify the bodies.
Mobs had gathered soon after the blast unmindful of the risk. Kakinada assistant superintendent of police Manish Patil and his team had to clear the way for ambulances to come in along the narrow canal road to take away the injured to hospitals.
Villagers of Vetlapalem suffered a jolt when they heard the blast and ran out of their houses. Sathar Bibi, who runs a kiosk nearby, said she had been sleeping when she heard the blast and saw sheets of her roof fly away.
Amid the strewn limbs, relatives and next of kin could be seen trying to identify bodies. Katta Usharani had been searching for her mother Nookala Devi. She said though she could not trace her mother, her name is on the list of dead.
Tumpala Narendra, a mason of Vetlapalem, had been at work when he heard the blast. When he realised that the blast had been at the firecracker unit, he came rushing, only to find his mother T. Lova (38) dead.
Narendra and his mother had started working after their father Ramu fell ill. Narender said his mother had wanted to get his sister married. “We have turned into orphans,” he lamented.
Roja, wife of K. Srinu, who is being treated at Government General Hospital in Kakinada, could be seen crying and pleading to doctors to save the life of her husband.
Vetlapalem village, to which most of the dead belong, is grief stricken.
District collector S. Shan Mohan and Kakinada SP G. Bindu Madhav are closely monitoring the relief operations.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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