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Time of India
01-07-2025
- Time of India
8 killed in explosion at cracker making unit
Virudhunagar: Eight workers were killed and five others injured in an explosion at a fireworks unit at Chinnakamanpatti village in Virudhunagar district on Tuesday. The incident happened at Gokulesh Fireworks near Sattur, a unit licensed by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation. Around 8.20am, workers were handling chemicals required for the manufacture of aerial crackers in the chemical mixing room when the blast occurred, triggered by friction. Eight workers, Mahalingam, 55, Ramamoorthy, 45, Ramajeyam, 27, Lakshmi, 22, Vairamani, 32, Chellapandi, Nagapandi, and Punniamoorthy, died on the spot. Five others, Alaguraja, Lingasamy, Karuppasamy, Manikandan, and Murugalakshmi, 48, sustained injuries. The injured were admitted to Sivakasi govt hospital while Karuppasamy was referred to Virudhunagar govt medical college hospital, Alaguraja was referred to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai district for treatment. Police arrested the unit's foreman Ravi and are conducting further investigations . The unit owned by Kamalkumar and Selvam of Sivakasi had nearly 48 working sheds and 80 employees. Fire and rescue services personnel rushed in and doused the flames. Seven working sheds collapsed in the blast. Based on the complaint of the village administrative officer, Sattur town police registered a case against Kamalkumar, Selvam, and Mayakannan, who is the owner of the land where the fireworks unit is situated. Cases were also registered against foremen Ravi and Natarajan. Virudhunagar district collector N O Sukhaputra visited the fireworks unit and conducted an inquiry. He said officials from industrial safety and health are conducting an inspection to ascertain whether there were any violations in the unit. Steps are being taken by the officials to cancel the licence of the unit. While expressing sadness at the tragedy, chief minister M K Stalin announced a compensation of Rs4 lakh each to the family members of the deceased workers. He also announced Rs1 lakh each to the workers who sustained severe injuries and Rs50,000 each to those who sustained minor injuries. He said he had instructed doctors to provide proper treatment to the injured workers. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Doctor's Day 2025 , messages and quotes!
Time of India
01-07-2025
- Time of India
Eight killed in TN firecracker making unit blast
VIRUDHUNAGAR: Eight workers were killed and five others injured in an explosion at a fireworks unit at Chinnakamanpatti village in Virudhunagar district on Tuesday. The incident happened at Gokulesh Fireworks near Sattur, a unit licensed by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation. Around 8.20am, workers were handling chemicals required for the manufacture of aerial crackers in the chemical mixing room when the blast occurred, triggered by friction, police said. Eight workers, Mahalingam, 55, Ramamoorthy, 45, Ramajeyam, 27, Lakshmi, 22, Vairamani, 32, Chellapandi, Nagapandi, and Punniamoorthy, died on the spot. Five others sustained injuries and were admitted to Sivakasi govt hospital. You Can Also Check: Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai Police arrested the unit's foreman Ravi and are conducting further investigations. The unit owned by Kamalkumar and Selvam of Sivakasi had nearly 48 working sheds and 80 employees. Fire and rescue services personnel rushed in and doused the flames. Seven working sheds collapsed in the blast. Based on the complaint of the village administrative officer, Sattur town police registered a case against Kamalkumar, Selvam, and Mayakannan, who is the owner of the land where the fireworks unit is situated. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like local network access control Esseps Learn More Undo Cases were also registered against foremen Ravi and Natarajan. Virudhunagar district collector N O Sukhaputra visited the fireworks unit and conducted an inquiry. He said officials from industrial safety and health are conducting an inspection to ascertain whether there were any violations in the unit. Steps are being taken by the officials to cancel the licence of the unit. While expressing sadness at the tragedy, chief minister M K Stalin announced a compensation of Rs4 lakh each to the family members of the deceased workers. He also announced Rs1 lakh each to the workers who sustained severe injuries and Rs50,000 each to those who sustained minor injuries. He said he had instructed doctors to provide proper treatment to the injured workers. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Doctor's Day 2025 , messages and quotes!
New Indian Express
20-06-2025
- New Indian Express
Cracker blast death: HC hikes aid, asks Tamil Nadu to create rehab protocol
MADURAI: Observing that repeated accidents in firecracker manufacturing units denote the failure of regulatory bodies in discharging their duties, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court gave a series of directions and suggestions to the state government and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) on enhancement of compensation, scrutinisation of licensing practices, cause-based investigation into accidents, and structured rehabilitation framework for victims' families, among others. Justice B Pugalendhi gave the directions recently while enhancing the compensation awarded to four women from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh over death of their husbands in a fire accident at a cracker manufacturing unit at Ettakkapatti village in Sivakasi in 2014. The judge observed the accident is not an isolated case of mismanagement but is a part of a pattern of regulatory failure. The repeated pattern of accidents — 131 deaths and 146 serious injuries between 2019 and 2023 in the region — suggests a chronic absence of inspection, enforcement, and accountability. Despite the tiered licensing mechanism, district revenue officers, who are only authorised to grant licence when the explosive substances stored or processed are below 15kg, issue licences beyond their jurisdiction by permitting multiple sheds or use of explosives above limit, the judge noted. The Industrial Safety and Health Department, which bears statutory responsibility to oversee factory safety, is critically understaffed and the District Level Safety Committee constituted by the state labour department has not ensured meaningful oversight, he added. The criminal cases registered in connection with accidents are also investigated by police in a mechanical manner, the judge said.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Time of India
3 die in blast at TN firecracker unit
Virudhunagar: Three workers were killed and three others injured in an explosion at a fireworks manufacturing unit in Vadakarai village in Virudhunagar on Wednesday morning. Police have arrested two employees of the unit, and are looking for its owner, Rajachandrasekar. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Police said the blast happened around 9.30am at Yuvaraj Fireworks when workers were filling chemicals in a working shed. The explosion, apparently triggered by friction, killed Sowdammal, 53, of Kalkurichi, and Karuppiah, 35, of Kandiyanendhal, on the spot. Four more workers, Ganesan, 55, Murugan, 40, Mariammal, 40, and Pechiammal, 38, sustained severe injuries. They were rushed to Virudhunagar govt medical college hospital for treatment. Later in the evening, Ganesan died at the hospital, increasing the toll to three. Fire and rescue services personnel rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. The working shed was reduced to rubble in the blast. Expressing his sadness over the deaths, chief minister M K Stalin announced a compensation of Rs4 lakh each to the families of the deceased, Rs1 lakh each to the severely injured and Rs50,000 each to those with minor injuries. Kariapatti police registered a case and arrested foreman Veerasekaran and supervisor Kanimurugan. Police said the firecracker unit is licensed by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation. Finance minister Thangam Thennarasu visited the injured at Virudhunagar medical college hospital. Tamil Maanila Congress (M) leader G K Vasan urged the govt to continuously monitor safety measures in fireworks units to prevent such incidents.
New Indian Express
25-05-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Oil spill a major concern from the mid-sea accident involving cargo vessel off Kochi coast
KOCHI: While the Coast Guard, Navy, and the shipping company are making efforts to salvage MSC Elsa 3 which has reported a listing of 26 to 28 degree off Kochi coast, containing the oil spill has become a bigger concern. The vessel was transporting very low-sulphur fuel oil and marine gas oil from Tuticorin to Kochi port. As a few containers have fallen into the sea, the disaster management authority has issued an alert on possible oil spill. As the fallen containers may drift and reach the coastal areas of Kerala, an alert has been sounded and the residents of coastal areas have been cautioned against going near the containers. According to chemical safety expert R Venugopal, who is a former joint chief controller of explosives of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), the chances of oil spill from the fallen containers are high and the authorities should initiate steps to contain it. 'They should seek the support of oil companies for containment measures. Floating barriers or oil booms should be deployed around the spill to contain and prevent oil from spreading further. Mechanical or absorbent skimmers should be used to remove oil from the water surface efficiently. Barriers should be installed to direct oil towards clean-up zones, preventing accumulation in sensitive areas. Specialised sorbent booms, pads, and granular absorbents designed for hydrocarbon recovery can help absorb the oil spreading on the sea surface,' he said. What is VLSFO and MGO? Very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), represents a category of marine fuel designed to meet the International Maritime Organisation's regulations that limit the sulfur content in ship fuel to 0.5% by weight. Unlike traditional heavy fuel oil (HFO), VLSFO is blended from various components, including lighter, more refined products and some heavy fuel elements, to strike a balance between sulfur content, energy content, and cost. The VLSFO is more environmentally friendly but expensive due to the refining and blending required to reduce sulfur levels. Marine gas oil (MGO) is a marine fuel that consists solely of distillates, the components of crude oil that evaporate in fractional distillation and are then condensed from the gas phase into liquid fractions. It is similar to diesel but has a higher density, and unlike HFO, marine gas oil doesn't require heating during storage.
