Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
HYDERABAD, India (AP) — A blaze at a firecracker warehouse in southern India on Wednesday killed 11 people, police said.
The fire caused explosions in the warehouse in Kotilingala, a village in Telangana state, said Police Commissioner V. Ravindra Said, adding that the bodies were charred beyond recognition.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Five injured people have been hospitalized, the New Delhi Television news channel reported.
Kotalingala is 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Hyderabad, the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states.
India has a huge demand for firecrackers, which are used in religious festivals and weddings. There are fatal accidents nearly every year as people work in makeshift factories in the absence of proper safety standards.
In January this year, a massive fire at a firecracker factory in New Delhi killed 17 workers. Last year, 23 workers were killed when a blast occurred while they were producing firecrackers in Kheri village in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.
Factories start producing firecrackers months before the nation's biggest Hindu festivals, when people set them off in celebration.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
