Cracker Blasts Death Toll Rises To 28, With 2 Deaths On Thursday
Bindu Madhav said investigations have revealed that the fireworks unit owner Adabala Arjun had taken licence-LE1 and renewed it in 2024. Another accused Adabala Veerababu got LE-5 license to sell the fire crackers.
KAKINADA: The death toll in the firecrackers’ blast at Vetlapalem village in Kakinada district has risen to 28, with two of the seriously injured persons – Mortha Srinu (30) and Sappa Venkata Satya Venkata Lakshmi (34) – dying on Thursday at the Government General Hospital at Kakinada while undergoing treatment.
Samalkot police have arrested two of the accused Adabala Arjun (29) and his brother Adabala Veerababu (31) of Vetlapalem on the charge of stocking raw materials for manufacturing fire crackers beyond the prescribed limit. The third accused Adabala Srinivas, the father of the two accused arrested, died on the spot when the blast occurred.
Kakinada district superintendent of police G. Bindu Madhav told reporters that 20 persons died on the spot while 11 had been injured seriously. Eight of the injured have died till Thursday. He said one of the injured is undergoing treatment at the Government General Hospital and another remains admitted in a private hospital in Kakinada. The third injured worker, Chepala Samuel, has been discharged from the PHC at Samalkot.
Bindu Madhav said investigations have revealed that the fireworks unit owner Adabala Arjun had taken licence-LE1 and renewed it in 2024. Another accused Adabala Veerababu got LE-5 license to sell the fire crackers. The duo, along with their father Srinivasa Rao had been running the firecracker business.
As the LE-1 license had been scheduled to expire on March 31, 2026, Arjun manufactured and stored large quantities of firecrackers for selling them through Veerababu’s shop.
Further, in view of the Village Goddess festival at Mallisala in Jaggampeta mandal, they had received a major firecracker order. Manufacturers thus stored large quantities of raw materials in violation of the norms, while not complying with the safety standards. They had also employed a large number of inexperienced workers, whose mishandling of material resulted in the explosion.
Peddapuram in-charge DSP is investigating the case.
