Overview
- The incident happened on the morning of November 9 in Navapara village, Surguja district, when the two-year-old reportedly picked up a small 'lehsun' pop-pop packet that exploded inside his mouth.
- The family took the child to a community health centre the same day and later brought him home, but he was shifted to a mission hospital in Ambikapur on November 11 and died that night.
- Police have registered an accidental death report and said an investigation is under way, while the boy’s father told reporters that doctors who performed the post-mortem found traces of firecracker material in the throat.
- A 'lehsun' or pop-pop cracker is designed to explode from friction or pressure when compressed on the ground, and its tiny packets pose a particular hazard if handled by young children or placed in the mouth.
- The case highlights a wider safety risk from small, disguised firecrackers and may prompt local warnings or enforcement action to keep such items away from children.