West Bengal: Explosion at fireworks factory kills 7, investigation underway

On Sunday morning, the Duttapukur area of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district saw an explosion at a fireworks factory. The blast was reported to have taken seven lives, injuring several others along the way.

VIDEO | 3 killed and several others injured in a blast at a firecracker factory in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district earlier today. More details are awaited.

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The official statement   

When asked by the fire brigade officials, they said the explosion was very powerful and damaged several buildings in its radius.

The Fire brigade officials said the explosion was so powerful that it damaged several buildings in the area.

The state food minister and legislator of the area, Rathin Ghosh, said, “District police officials told me that seven or eight people died and five to six people were injured. I will visit the spot. Firecrackers were stocked in the building in which the explosion took place. This is not an area where crackers were made. The main manufacturing hub was the Narayanpur area of Nilgunj, which is far away from here. Police had shut down all the cracker units at Narayanpur.”

More on the explosion  

According to reports, the blast took place inside a two-storey house around 10:40 a.m. in the Nilgunj area. Many locals claimed that the factory was illegally run from a house.

Prior explosions

In the recent past, West Bengal has seen such events. Around May 2023, seven people were injured in an explosion at a fireworks business in Egra, Midnapore district. A similar mishap occurred around December of last year; at least three people were murdered at a fireworks factory in Mohanpur village, located in the Nodakhali region of the South 24 Parganas district.

Following such incidents, the state government announced a new guideline under which fireworks can only be constructed in industrial areas. These hubs are currently being established.

The West Bengal government established a commission on May 22 to investigate such illegal units.