Death toll in Virudhunagar fireworks unit blast rises to 25

Virudhunagar: The death toll in the blast at a fireworks unit in Kattanarpatti village on Sunday, rose to 25 as two women who sustained injuries, died at the Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital on Monday morning.Officials have identified the bodies of 21 people - Pandiammal, 55, Nachiammal, 56, Janaki, 56, Indrani, 46, Kalliammal, 45, Pandiammal, 54, Poongudi, 65, Pakiyalakshmi, 39, Alagammal, 44, Maruthan, 50, Ponalagu, 34, Anna Lakshmi, 54, Chinnapapa, 35, Marriyammal, 54, Pitchayammal, 45, Petchiammal, 51, Meiyakkal, 55, all from Servaikaranpatti, and Veluchamy, 56, from Thiruthangal, Pachavarnam, 54, from Athipatti, and Veeralakshmi, 42, from Athipatti. The identity of four workers are yet to be ascertained. While 15 families received the bodies, the remaining 10 families are expected to receive them on Tuesday. Six other workers who sustained injuries are undergoing treatment.Official sources said the unit named Vanaja fireworks was functioning with several violations. Eshwari who is the licence holder along with her husband Muthumanickam, allegedly sub-leased the unit to a person Muthukrishnan of Sivakasi.Based on the complaint of VAO of V Muthuramalingapuram village, Vanitha, the Vachakarapatti police registered a case against Muthumanickam and Eshwari for offences under BNS and Explosives Act. Special teams have been constituted to nab the husband-wife duo who are absconding.Meanwhile, grief engulfed Servaikaranpatti village as 19 of the 25 deceased hailed from this village. On Monday, hundreds of people, family members and relatives of all the deceased gathered at the hospital, and held a road roko seeking compensation and to arrest the accused. After the officials held talks, they withdrew their protest.Refusing to accept the bodies till the compensation is provided, villagers of Servaikaranpatti left to their village during the afternoon. During the evening, they held a road roko on the Virudhunagar-Sivakasi Road near Uppodai village seeking compensation. However, police rushed to the spot and pacified them. Addressing reporters on Monday evening, Virudhunagar district collector N O Sukhaputra said that a state government compensation of 5 lakh and 50,000 each would be given to family members of the 25 people who died in this accident. Since the Union govt has also announced a compensation of 2 lakh each, steps are taken to speed up the work of issuing death certificates and legal heir certificates to apply for the same. He said that in order to prevent such accidents, special teams would be constituted to inspect the fireworks units periodically. BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran and Trichy MP Durai Vaiko visited the hospital and expressed their condolences.