On October 9, V. Poovarasan, 25, heard a deafening blast. It was about 9:30 in the morning and he was working in the godown of a licensed firecracker unit in the village of V. Viragalur in Ariyalur district of eastern Tamil Nadu. Before Poovarasan could understand what was happening, a fire triggered by the blast began to quickly spread in the unit. He cowered in fear as he heard multiple explosions and then ran out of the godown.
“I was with three others in the last godown of the unit. We all ran towards a safe spot near a water body. While running, I fell, but thankfully I managed to get up and escape from the site,” recalls Poovarasan, who has been working at the unit for seven years.
Though relieved then, Poovarasan was horrified to learn later that his father-in-law Ravi and mother-in-law Sivakami, who were working in the first godown of the unit where the blast took place, were dead. His younger brother Sathyamurthy and his brother-in-law Karthik, who were also employed there, escaped with injuries. Karthik is undergoing treatment at the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital, about an hour away from the spot, while Sathyamurthy was discharged a few days ago.
