The tragedy comes just two days after a massive explosion at a fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district left 23 people dead on Sunday.
At least 14 people were killed after a series of explosions ripped through a fireworks assembly unit in Thrissur, days ahead of the annual Thrissur Pooram festival and its famed fireworks display.
The tragedy comes just two days after a massive explosion at a fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district left 23 people dead on Sunday.
At 3.30 pm on Tuesday, two massive explosions, seconds apart, tore through a set of temporary sheds at the edge of a large field in Mundathicode, a village in central Thrissur. Workers inside the sheds had been assembling sample fireworks for Thrissur Pooram. The sample fireworks display they were preparing for was scheduled for Friday. By nightfall on Tuesday, officials at the district collectorate control room said 14 people were confirmed dead and several others were injured, of whom five were in critical condition.
