DHARMAPURI: Three women lost their lives when firecrackers exploded at a godown at Chinnamurukkampatty, near Kambainallur, in TN's Dharmapuri district, on Monday.
The victims were identified as V Tirumalar, 38, M Shenbagam, 35, and T Manju, 33, all residents of Boomisamudram village.
The godown is owned by Chinnadurai of Rasipuram, Namakkal district.
The firecrackers exploded around 2pm when Tirumalar, Shenbagam and Manju were working in the godown, killing the three on the spot.
Residents of the area alerted the fire and rescue services, who rushed to the spot and doused the flames. The bodies were sent to the govt hospital for postmortems.
Collector R Sadheesh and SP S S Maheshwaran visited the godown, and forensic experts gathered evidence to determine the cause of the explosion. Kambainallur police have registered a case.
Chief minister M K Stalin announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the deceased.
Rajya Sabha MP and PMK president Dr Anbumani Ramadoss expressed condolences and pointed out that safety deficiencies in the godown were the likely cause of the accident. He called for intensified safety audits at firecracker godowns and demanded Rs 25 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased from the state govt.
According to local villagers, a case had been filed in Madras high court about five years ago against the firecracker unit operating in a residential area for the past two decades.
"Despite several petitions to the Tamil Nadu govt and the Dharmapuri district administration over the past 10 years, no action has been taken," a villager said. Sadheesh promised to address the issue.
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