Chennai: The toll in Friday night's cracker blast at Omalur in Salem district rose to four with the death of one more person, even as Chief Minister M K Stalin announced a solatium of Rs three lakh each to their family members. An official release said three people Selvaraj (29), Tamilselvan and Karthi (both aged 11) were killed on the spot. On Saturday, one more person, identified as Lokesh (20), who had sustained serious injuries, succumbed to burns at the at the Salem Government Medical College hospital. Grief By CM CM Stalin expressed deep anguish and grief over their deaths and announced the relief from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund and also offered his condolences to their families. The crackers, stacked in a gunny sack, were being taken to a temple festival in a two-wheeler when the tragedy occurred. Spark In Garbage The victims were crossing a garbage dump which was burning when a spark from it triggered the explosion, in which three people were charred to death on the spot and one more succumbing to injuries today. Earlier Incidents In TN Last year in September, two workers were killed and four others grievously injured in a blast at a private fireworks factory at Kurippankulam village under Nazareth police limits in this southern district of Tamil Nadu on Saturday evening. Police said the blast occurred due to friction when the workers were mixing highly inflammable chemicals used for making fancy variety crackers at Sivasakthi Fireworks Factory. Blast In Godown The godown was completely destroyed in the fire following the blast. Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the factory and extinguished the fire after a couple of hours of battle. The deceased were identified as K Muthukannan (21) and T Vijay (25). Injured Include Two Women The injured, including two women, were undergoing treatment at Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital and Sathankulam Government Hospital. Nazareth police have registered a case and arrested Ramkumar, owner of the factory. Chief Minister MKStalin in a post on ‘X’ (former Twitter) expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs three lakhs each to the families of the deceased and Rs one lakh to the injured workers.
