Two dead as building collapses in cracker blast
By IANSThursday, October 28, 2010
KANPUR - Two people were killed and 10 injured when a large stock of Diwali firecrackers went off in the staff quarters of a government-run Community Health Centre here, bringing down the two-storeyed building Thursday afternoon.
District Magistrate Mukesh Meshram said: “Apparently the explosion occurred on account of igniting of a large stock of Diwali crackers in the house.”
He said, “We have extricated two bodies and also rescued 10 people trapped under the debris of the collapsed building.”
According to Meshram, “The blast occurred around 3 p.m. in the staff quarters of the Community Health Centre in Kalyanpur locality of the city.”
The investigating and rescue teams have discovered a huge cache of Diwali crackers and other fireworks material under the debris.
Asked if firecrackers and fireworks material could cause such a blast that could bring down a building, the district magistrate said, “Well, the health centre quarters were in a dilapidated condition, so it was not a surprise that the entire building collapsed on account of the burst of crackers in a row.”
Last week, four people died in a similar serial burst of Diwali crackers stocked in another residential locality here.
