Another firecracker blast in Bengal

Two more people were killed and another grievously injured during an explosion in another firecracker unit in Bengal’s Malda town. This is the third explosion in a week's time when firecrackers stockpiled illegally in the state caught fire since May 16. The explosions have so far claimed the lives of 16 people. A police crackdown since the first accident in Egra in southern Bengal yielded more than 90,000 kg of fireworks valued at £150,000 stored clandestinely in homes, shops and godowns across the state. Five fire engines laboured nine hours to control the blaze that killed two men and burned down 13 shops. Witnesses said drums of carbide - usually used to ripen mangoes - were being unloaded from a lorry into a godown in the morning. One of the drums reportedly slipped from a worker’s hands and it exploded, igniting firecrackers stored in adjacent shops.