Three including girl child die in blast in Tirupur

COIMBATORE: Three people, including a nine-month-old girl, died and 10 others suffered injuries in a blast in a two-storey house in Tirupur city on Tuesday. Crackers were being manufactured illegally in a portion of the house, police said.

Two houses were fully damaged while five others were partially damaged in the blast.

The deceased have been identified as Kumar of Tirupur, a nine-month-old girl named Aliya Sherin, and an unidentified woman whose body was ripped apart and found scattered in the area. The child was playing in the street in front of her house when the blast happened.

The explosion occurred in a two-storey house belonging to Karthik in Ponnammal Nagar around noon. He was residing there with his wife, Sathyapriya.

He rented out a small portion on the ground floor to a woman named Selvi to run a grocery shop. His brother-in-law Saravanakumar of Nambiyur in Erode district had possessed licence to make large-sized crackers to supply during temple festivals. His licence expired in Dec 2023, and the cracker-making unit was closed in Nambiyur.

Tirupur city police commissioner S Lakshmi said, "Saravanakumar was illegally making crackers in the house for temples. We registered a case and will take stringent action against Saravanakumar and others," said Lakshmi.

Tirupur district collector T Christuraj met the injured people, including two children, in the hospital. Karthik’s wife Sathyapriya was also injured. The collector said the govt would give assistance for the damaged houses. He said police would take action against people who manufactured crackers illegally in the city.