At least 5 killed as major explosion rocks Thrissur Pooram’s fireworks production unit

Thrissur: At least five people were killed and several others were injured as a major explosion rocked the unit manufacturing fireworks display items for the famous Thrissur Pooram at Mundathicode on Tuesday afternoon. There has been no official confirmation on the deaths so far, but sources in the area said at least five people were killed. The casualties are likely to go up, sources added.According to reports, nearly 5,000 kg of fireworks items were stocked in the unit. The items were meant for use for the ‘sample fireworks display' scheduled on Friday and for the main display to be held in the wee hours of Monday, the day after the Pooram. The unit was manufacturing items for the Thiruvambady side, one of the two major participants of Thrissur Pooram. According to reports, nearly 35 people were working in the unit and dismembered body parts of some of them were lying scattered in the area. Efforts were being made to collect the dismembered body parts from the area surrounding the unit. At least six people have been rushed to the neighbouring medical college hospital. Rescue operations were hampered because explosions were continuing even after two hours since the incident began. Hence it isn't clear so far how many people are trapped at the explosion site. Even though the unit is in an isolated paddy field, the window panes of houses located about 1km away from the unit have been smashed in the impact of the explosion. The sound of the explosions were heard even in faraway areas. Large columns of smoke were seen emerging from the unit immediately after the explosions began. It is not immediately known what triggered the explosion, but it is clear that the severe heatwave conditions prevailing in the district must have played a role, according to experts. In 2006, four persons were killed and six injured in an explosion at a fireworks manufacturing shed at Padukkad near Thrissur before the Pooram.