Batala blast: Rescue operations underway

Large-scale rescue operations continued on Thursday at a firecracker factory site in Punjab's Batla where 23 people were killed and 27 injured in a powerful explosion. Evacuation operations being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force teams.

Batala (Punjab): Rescue operations continued on Thursday at a firecracker factory site where 23 people were killed and 27 injured in a powerful explosion in Punjab's Batla.

According to reports, evacuation operations being carried out by the teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

The incident took place at a residential area on Jalandhar road in Batala of Gurdaspur district on Wednesday around 4 pm.

The explosion had also damaged buildings nearby, shattering windowpanes and even bringing down the roofs of a couple of them.

After the post mortem, the bodies will be handed over to the families of victims, officials said.

Meanwhile, tempers ran high at civil hospital where some family members of victims sought action against those officials for failing to ensure closure of the firecracker factory despite repeated requests. They also raised slogans against the district administration.

Batala senior superintendent of police Opinderjit Singh said the exact cause of the blast could be ascertained after the probe. A forensic team from Chandigarh will soon reach the site to take samples, officials added.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday had directed both the civil and police administration to extend all possible help to the victims' families in this hour of grief.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday morning condoled the loss of lives in a blast at a firecracker factory in Punjab’s Batala.

In a tweet, he described the tragedy as heart-wrenching and prayed for the early recovery of those injured. “The tragedy at a firecracker factory in Punjab is heart-wrenching. Deeply anguished due to it. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. I hope the injured recover at the earliest,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a tweet quoting the PM.

• The tragedy at a firecracker factory in Punjab is heart-wrenching. Deeply anguished due to it. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. I hope the injured recover at the earliest. Agencies are working on rescue operations at the site of the tragedy: PM

  — PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 5, 2019 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  The tragedy at a firecracker factory in Punjab is heart-wrenching. Deeply anguished due to it. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. I hope the injured recover at the earliest. Agencies are working on rescue operations at the site of the tragedy: PM

  — PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 5, 2019

  ">

  The tragedy at a firecracker factory in Punjab is heart-wrenching. Deeply anguished due to it. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. I hope the injured recover at the earliest. Agencies are working on rescue operations at the site of the tragedy: PM

  — PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 5, 2019

  
  

Punjab government has already ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the each of the seven severely injured had already been announced.