Fire breaks out at cracker factory in Balaghat

At Bhatan village in the district on Wednesday afternoon, 22 workers were burned to death and 10 others were wounded after a fire broke out in a cracker factory, an official said.

The factory located around 10 km from the district headquarters in the Kotwali police station limits. The burning started around 3 pm in

District collector Bharat Yadav said, “till now, 22 people have been rescued from the wreckage and 10 wounded have been hurried to hospitals”.

A couple of people are still feared to be caught under the wreckage, he said.
“Till now, no clue was found which triggered the fire. Suspecting that someone might have thrown a burning beedi,” he said.

The fire has been doused, he said adding the factory was placed away from the village.