BENGALURU: The death toll in the Attibele firecracker mishap has risen to 16 with one more person succumbing to injuries at the St John’s hospital today. The deceased, identified as Venkatesh, a photographer and bodybuilder, had gone to the shop along with a friend to buy firecrackers for some event.
While Venkatesh had suffered injuries in the back, head and arms, his friend Murali luckily escaped. The fire broke out inside the shop when they were buying firecrackers. “When we saw the fire, we ran out. I ran towards the left while Venkatesh turned right. I was saved from the fire, but he sustained burns”, he told Public TV.
Murali said Venkatesh sustained injuries in the back and he was immediately shifted to hospital. “All along the way, he was speaking to me and was screaming that he would not live. If he had received good treatment, he may have been alive. The government has been negligent”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Home secretary has issued a notice to the Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner K Dayananda in connection with the fire mishap. The DC has been asked to file a report within a week.
On Wednesday, 17-year-old Dinesh Kumar succumbed to his injuries at Victoria Hospital. He hailed from Vellaguttai village near Vaniyambadi in Tamil Nadu and was undergoing treatment for five days.
Following the Attibele incident, the state government has banned all types of dangerous firecrackers, and has allowed the sale of only green crackers, ahead of Deepavali festival. Also, no firecrackers, except green crackers, will be allowed at political events, weddings an other occasions.
After chairing a high-level meeting two days ago, the CM had said that the Supreme Court orders on sale of crackers will be strictly followed and any violations will attract cancellation of licences and permits. The licences will also have to be renewed every year as against every five years. On Wednesday, the government also placed four officials under suspension holding them responsible for the incident.
Ganesh Kumar, a firecracker dealer in Sultanpet, said, “There have been no mishaps in all these decades that we have been in this business. Every year, inspection is conducted by the explosives department and they instruct us to make changes if there are any shortcomings. They brief us about all the precautionary measures and we follow them. We are about 10 old licence holders within the city”.
From Tuesday evening itself, the police and revenue authorities are closing down all firecracker shops. “I have been in the business for 45 years in Sultanpet, but suddenly all shops are being closed. If green crackers can be sold, then we should be allowed to sell those at least. Instead, the government has emptied out our shops”, said Ganesh Kumar, a firecracker dealer.