The death toll in the fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu as the sequel of the fire accident has increased to 19 as of Saturday morning. The incident happened in Virudhunagar district in the afternoon hours of Friday. The dreadful blast has claimed 19 lives, injured over 30 people, and charred most of the areas of the factory. 

According to reports, the factory, Sree Mariyammal firework unit in Achankulam village near Sattur, Virudhunagar, had reported the fire accident at around 1 pm on Friday, when the workers were handling chemicals for manufacturing fancy fireworks. It has been reported that 70 people were in the factory when the fire accident happened and with fire taking control of the factory, it soon spread to the other units and trapped several workers inside the building. 

The trap had put them under debris with no way to escape. After the incident was reported, the local administration had deployed fire and rescue teams to contain further damage and rescue the people. At least ten fire units were rushed to the spot and carried out the operations of extinguishing the fire. The rescue teams had rescued the bodies of the deceased and people who got injured and rushed them to the government hospitals in Sattur and Sivakasi for further treatments. 

While the death toll stood at 12 on Friday, it has increased to 19 on Saturday morning and the reports say that 80% of the injured people are still in a critical state and it has feared that the toll may increase. According to a news agency, a police officer in the know said that of these 19 fatalities, 13 bodies were identified while six others are yet to be identified. The officer said that the department has been in operation of nabbing the owner of the firework factory, who has been at large since the incident. 

The fatalities include a pregnant woman, who joined the factory three days ago. The visuals from the spot had put many in shock as the fire accident has been an unprecedented development in recent times. The factory has employed over 70 people and the unit was leased illegally to a man named Sakthivel, who is also at large. The unit has 60 working sheds and of these 60, 15 were completely damaged in the fire while 13 were partially damaged. 

After the incident came to light, several leaders had expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to those who had sustained severe injuries. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had also announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured people. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "Heartfelt condolences to the victims of the firecracker factory fire in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu. It’s heart-wrenching to think of those still trapped inside. I appeal to the state government to provide immediate rescue, support & relief." According to the latest reports, the postmortem of the dead bodies has begun. Virudhunagar district collector Kannan had arrived at the spot and reviewed the rescue measures and assured that an appropriate probe will be carried out and the responsible people will be brought under the legal books. It must be noted that at least five people were killed in a similar accident at a firework manufacturing unit near Madurai last October. Ahead of Diwali, the fire accident was reported in Rajalakshmi fireworks in Sengulam, which is around 65 kilometers from Madurai city.