Kendrapara: A 74-year-old woman suffered serious injuries after an explosion ripped through a suspected illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, police said Friday.
The incident occurred Thursday night at Ostarahat village under the jurisdiction of Marshaghai police station.
The injured woman, identified as Bilasini Mallick, was initially admitted to the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Marshaghai and later shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Kendrapara after her condition deteriorated, police said.
Inspector-in-Charge of Marshaghai police station Tapan Nayak said the house belonged to Gadadhar Mallick, who allegedly stored firecrackers illegally in the makeshift cracker manufacturing unit when the explosion occurred.
No one was present inside the house at the time of the blast, while the woman was passing by it.
“The impact of the blast triggered a major fire, and fire brigade personnel took nearly three hours to bring the flames under control,” Nayak said.
The six-room thatched house was gutted by the fire.
Police and fire services personnel reached the spot after receiving information about the explosion and carried out rescue and firefighting operations.
During the investigation, police recovered chemical substances suspected to be explosive in nature from the site. The seized samples have been sent for scientific examination to ascertain their composition and origin, officials said.
A case has been registered under the Indian Explosives Act and several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), police said.
The exact cause of the explosion is yet to be established, and further investigation is underway to determine whether the unit was operating without the required licences and safety clearances, police added.