Sendur (TN), April 7
Panic prevailed all over Tamil Nadu as 16 persons were killed and 27
seriously injured in a massive explosion of a jeep carrying huge
quantity of gelatine sticks and detonators at this village off the
national highway today.
The jeep, after delivering some goods at a nearby village, was proceeding towards Tindivanam town in Villipuram district, 200 km from Chennai. Eyewitnesses said the jeep stopped at this village around noon on the NH 45, connecting Chennai and
Trichurapalli, when smoke was emanating from its engine.
Villagers, as well as passengers, who alighted from a passing bus out of curiosity, went near the jeep to investigate the smoke while some people rushed with water and sand as the smoke thickened.
Within a few minutes there was a huge explosion. Most of the people surrounding the vehicle, the jeep driver and one assistant were killed on the spot while others suffered serious burn injuries as their limbs were torn off and their bodies burnt.
Tamil Nadu director general of Police Desapriya Mukherjee, who visited the spot, told reporters that the owner of the jeep Manalipattu G. Sekhar possessed a licence to supply gelatine sticks to quarries but he had no licence for detonators. He has been detained.
Police officers at the spot said that they were investigating possible violation of transportation rules for carrying explosive substances. They said according to rules gelatine sticks and detanotaors should not be packed together and the quantity in the jeep was probably in excess of permissible limits.
The impact of the blast was so high that it damaged scores of thatched houses near the spot, including a middle school, which has 300 students. Fortunately being Saturday the school was closed.
The explosion could be heard even at Tindivanam town, 20 km away and people rushed to the spot, to help the injured, four of whom were admitted at the general hospital in the town while those seriously injured were shifted to JIPMER in Puducherry.
Local villagers alleged that jeep owner Sekhar was a small-time bootlegger and had obtained the licence to supply explosives because of his clout. He had destroyed many families in area by supplying illicit arrack, they alleged.
Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin and a few other Ministers also visited the spot to oversee relief measures and announced an aid of Rs 1 lakh to the relatives of those dead.
