Overview
- An explosion at a licensed firecracker godown in Chinna Anaicut village razed the building and killed a 41-year-old worker, R. Gayathri.
- A second worker, U. Sangeetha, was rescued by residents and taken to Government Medical College Hospital, Vellore, where she remains in critical condition on ventilator support with severe burns.
- Police registered a case, formed special squads to locate the owner S. Hariprasad who left the scene, and launched a formal probe into the circumstances of the blast.
- Vellore revenue and TNPCB officials found multiple licence and safety violations, including missing firefighting equipment and improper storage of raw materials, leading the collector to cancel the unit's licence.
- Authorities ordered surprise safety inspections at nine licensed cracker units in the district as officials investigate how festival-season stockpiling and oversight may have contributed to the accident.