NEW DELHI, May 9 (NNN-PTI) – Ten people, including nine workers, were killed yesterday, after a blast went off at a limestone quarry in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, officials said.
The blast took place when the workers were unloading gelatin sticks from a truck inside a limestone quarry at Mamillapalle village, in Kadapa district, about 291 km south-west of Amaravati, the main city of Andhra Pradesh.
“Today (yesterday), at around 9:30 (local time), a blast took place here, in which nine daily wage workers and a truck driver got killed,” a senior official in Kadapa district, A Malola said. “The powerful blast took place when the workers were unloading gelatin sticks from the truck.”
“It was not immediately known as to what triggered the deadly blast but there is suspicion that it has been caused due to mishandling of the highly explosive material,” the official said. “Police is investigating the matter.”
Around two dozen local workers were at the spot at the time of the blast and as per local media reports, some of them were wounded in the blast.
Reports said immediately after the blast, family members and relatives of the workers rushed to the quarry to search for their missing ones.
Preliminary investigations revealed the blast went off after the gelatin sticks came in contact with the sides of the vehicle.
“Chief Minister Y S Jagan expressed shock over the blast and conveyed his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,” a government spokesman said. “He has asked the authorities to probe the cause of the blast.”– NNN-PTI
