Crackers stored illegally: One dead, two injured in Pratapgarh house blast

A man died while two women were injured in a massive blast in a house in Jiriamau locality, in Pratapgarh city late on Thursday night. A portion of the house collapsed while the debris was scattered around 200 meters following the explosion.

Police said that the reason for the blast is illegally made firecrackers being stored in the house.

ASP Durgesh Singh said that an FIR has been registered in this connection for illegal storage of firecrackers, which posed a threat to life and property. In a checking drive launched in the area following the blast in the house, firecrackers were found stored illegally in many shops to be sold during Diwali, he added.

One Mukhtar, 55, a resident of Jiriamau, has a licence of a professional firecracker expert. However, Mukhtar also illegally manufactured and stored a large quantity of firecrackers in his house. On Thursday night, at around 10, Mukhtar was making firecrackers when there was a massive explosion.

Mukhtar who was on the second floor of the house was tossed out of the house due to the intensity of the blast and died on the spot. Meanwhile, there were multiple explosions after the first blast, including in the LPG cylinder inside the house, which completely damaged the second and the third floors of the house. The RCC pillar of the house also got damaged in the explosions.

Mukhtar’s daughter, Shabnam, 25 and daughter-in-law, Shahnam, 38, also received serious injuries and burns in the incident.

ASP Durgesh Singh reached the spot and admitted the injured to the district hospital where the doctors referred them to SRN Hospital in Prayagraj. Fire tenders also reached the scene and doused the fire which erupted following the explosions.

Singh said primary investigations revealed that firecrackers were illegally stored in the house.