22 killed in explosives factory blast

By P.V.V.Murthi

VELLORE, AUG. 16. At least 22 persons were killed and five seriously injured when an explosion ripped through a unit of the State-owned Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Ltd. factory at Christianpet near Katpadi in Vellore district today.

Seventeen others were trapped in the debris of the factory's detonator unit, which came crashing down at 9.25 a.m. However, a State Government press release put the toll at 25.

One and a half hours after 24 workers came in for the first shift, a thundering explosion shattered the detonator unit in building No. 302, reducing it to a shambles.

Firemen retrieved eight bodies and rescued seven persons, including two women, one of whom died later at the CMC Hospital here. The remaining persons trapped in the building were ``declared dead''.

As the heads and limbs of the deceased were ripped apart, the grieving relatives were unable to identify the bodies kept at the mortuary of the Government Pentland Hospital here.

The impact of the blast was so powerful that debris from the detonator unit killed a trainee worker, P. Bhavani, in building No. 301 a furlong away, and injured two other women workers, S. Devaki and Nirmala.

The Tamil Nadu Explosives Ltd. General Manager (Works), Mr. K. A. Annamalai, told mediapersons that the explosion occurred during the final ``crimping'' (pressing) process in the manufacture of explosives. One possible cause could be the friction of the lead azide lead stiffnate (LALS), one of the components, as merely touching the component could trigger a blast.

As many as 35,000 detonators were stored in building No.302 comprising 30 cabinets at the time of the explosion. An explosion in the factory about five years ago killed two persons. Most workers had gone out to have tea.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, ordered an immediate compensation of Rs. 50,000 each to the family of the deceased and Rs. 15,000 for each of the injured.

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