Toll in Sivakasi fire tragedy touches 39, five arrested

Sivakasi:Five persons were arrested on Thursday in connection with the devastating fire at a cracker manufacturing unit at Mudhalipatti near Sivakasi, even as the toll mounted to 39.

The arrested were four persons who had taken the Omshakthi fireworks factory complex, where the fire broke out, on lease and its foreman, police said.

The condition of over 40 of the 70 people injured was stated to be serious in various hospitals.

The licence of the factory was suspended only two days before the accident and the products had been stored in a godown against rules, according to officials.

The fire that broke out was so intense that the factory and 48 sheds in the complex exploded in flames, trapping many in the raging inferno. A factory official said 300 persons were at work at the unit at the time of the mishap.