Madurai, Oct 20: Eight people at a scan centre in Sivakasi, including patients, died of suffocation after a fire broke out at a nearby fireworks shop on Thursday afternoon.
Around 1.30pm, workers at Raghavendra Agency on the Sivakasi - Virudhunagar road were unloading fireworks from a minivan. According to police sources at the Sivakasi East Police station, the fireworks exploded when a bundle fell on the ground. Sensing danger, workers and shop owners took to their heels.
Upon hearing the noise, the scan centre workers and patients rushed to the first floor of the building and locked themselves in a room. As fireworks went on bursting, the smoke filled the room.
Fire and rescue services personnel from Sivakasi, Srivilliputhur, Virudhunagar and Sattur rushed to the spot and carried out rescue measures.
"Since the entry to the scan centre was near the fireworks shop, people could not run away as crackers were bursting. They preferred to stay inside the scan centre and died of suffocation. We broke open the rear windows and pulled out 41 people to safety. Unfortunately eight of them died of suffocation," a fire department official said.
Hospital sources at Sivakasi Centre of Excellence to Treat Burn Injuries said none of the people suffered burn injuries. The deaths were caused by suffocation.
Among the eight dead, four people are employees of the scan centre.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the fireworks exploded due to mishandling of crackers bundles while loading. Police detained a few workers of the fireworks shop for interrogation.
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