Haveri
Police have taken into custody Kumar, the owner of a fireworks shop, in connection with the fire that broke out at bhumika fireworks shop and godown at Aladakatty village in Haveri district on Tuesday afternoon. District Industries Minister Shivanand Patil visited the spot on Wednesday.
The fire that broke out in the godown, which started burning at 12 noon yesterday, was doused by the fire brigade after a 4-hour-long operation till 16 am today. Four people were killed in the tragedy. The deceased have been identified as 25-year-old Dyamappa Olekar, 28-year-old Ramesh Barki and 22-year-old Shivalinga Akki. The deceased are residents of Katanahalli village in Byadagi taluk. Firecrackers worth around Rs 1.5 crore were completely gutted in the incident.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those killed in the incident. It is learnt that the shop owners had collected huge quantities of firecrackers on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali. Hundreds of people gathered at the spot after hearing a loud noise and a major mishap was averted as those adjacent to the godown were evacuated.
The reason for the tragedy is that the gate of the godown is being welded. It is suspected that the fire broke out due to a spark while welding. Deputy Commissioner Raghunandamurthy, SP Shivakumar Gunare and other officials visited the spot yesterday.
The incident in which four labourers were burnt alive in a fireworks godown is very sad. Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai demanded that the state government should conduct a proper inquiry into the incident and provide compensation to the family of the deceased.
