Punjab CM orders magisterial inquiry into Batala firecracker factory blast

Chandigarh, September 5: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the blast at a firecracker factory in Batala, which claimed 23 lives. An official release said that the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Batala) has been asked to conduct the probe into the incident.

 

The explosion which occurred yesterday also damaged buildings nearby. Batala's Senior Medical Officer Sanjiv Bhalla said 23 people died in the explosion and 27 injured. An ex-gratia relief of two lakh rupees each has been announced for relatives of those killed and 50,000 rupees each to the severely injured person.

 

Fire tenders and teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force were deployed for the rescue operation. President Ram Nath Kovind expressed grief over the incident.

23 people were killed and more than a dozen others injured some of them seriously when a powerful blast took place inside a three-story firecracker factory in Batala town of Punjab on Wednesday afternoon.

Located on the Samadh road, the illegal factory was being run in a residential area.

Some factory workers are still believed to be trapped inside the building rubble. "The immediate priority before the district administration was to rescue the people and to provide medical aid to the people who have been injured" Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur Vipul Ujjawal said. According to eyewitnesses, the blast took place around 3:30 and people came out of their homes when they heard a loud noise.