Puri firecracker explosion: Toll mounts to 13

Bhubaneswar: The death toll in the Puri firecracker explosion mounted to 13 on Sunday after four more people succumbed to their burn injuries, according to an official statement.

Presently, 17 people injured in the explosion are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

While two of the injured people died on Sunday morning, two others succumbed in the afternoon, a statement issued by the Special Relief Commissioner’s office said.

Altogether 30 people were injured in the explosion of a stockpile of firecrackers that happened during Lord Jagannath’s ‘Chandan Yatra’, a ritual, on the night of May 29 in Puri.

Meanwhile, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra met family members of several of the deceased persons on Saturday evening.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had ordered an inquiry into the accident and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased.

The administrative-level probe by SRC Satyabrata Sahu into the accident was underway, he said.

The police also registered a suo motu criminal case and were investigating the matter.