Death Toll in Bengal Duttapukur Firecracker Factory Explosion Climbs to 8

Following the discovery of an additional body, the number of fatalities resulting from the explosion at the unauthorized firecracker production facility in Bengal Duttapukur has risen to eight, as confirmed by authorities on Monday. The incident occurred on Sunday within the North 24 Parganas district. A total of eight remains have now been retrieved from the location, stated Prashant Ghosh, a representative from the Barasat Fire Station.

Earlier Barasat District Hospital Subrata Mondal said that “Eight patients are currently admitted in the hospital…One person died here, and the six were brought dead by the police. So a total of seven have died.

In the interim, CV Ananda Bose, the Governor of West Bengal, paid a visit to the blast site in Duttapukur situated within the North 24 Parganas district. On Sunday, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a leader of the Congress party, remarked that the occurrence highlighted the shortcomings of the state government’s management.

“The amount of explosive materials (found at the scene of the blast) is proof that the Bengal government has allowed traders to run such illegal units wherever they want, even at the cost of lives. Traders, who deal in explosives, are being given complete freedom to run such units. This has resulted in such incidents,” the Congress leader said.

“The incident shows the abject failure of the state machinery and the law enforcement authorities. We only come to know of such factories when blasts happen and innocent lives are lost. After a cursory response from the administration and the police, everything goes quiet, and the illegal units return to business. It is the common man, who is made to pay the ultimate price for such illegal and nefarious activities,” he added.

Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition, expressed that the entire West Bengal state was akin to a precarious situation ready to explode. “This is not an isolated incident. The entire state is sitting on a powder keg. The chief minister had promised to close these illegal cracker-manufacturing factories, but she is busy protecting the thieves in her government and hosting the Imams instead. She is holding meetings with Muslim preachers,” he said. 

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