At least eight persons were killed when an explosion occurred on Sunday morning at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in the Mochpol area under Duttapukur Police Station in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. Two of the deceased were identified as Keramat Ali and his son Roushan Ali. Six bodies are yet to be identified and have been kept at the morgue at the Barasat Medical College and Hospital.
The two-storied house where the firecrackers were allegedly manufactured came crashing down. Several houses in the vicinity also suffered damage.
Locals heard a loud explosion at 8.30 a.m. in the morning. Arifa Bibi, a resident of the area, said that she was thrown a few feet away and several articles in her house fell down because of the impact of the explosion.
