Amritsar, September 05: Forcing a total of 23 to breath last and injuring more than 27 in an explosion at a firecracker factory in Punjab's Gurdaspur district on Wednesday, PM Narendra Modi today condoled the loss of lives, calling the said incident as heart wrenching.
“The tragedy at a firecracker factory in Punjab is heart-wrenching. Deeply anguished due to it. My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. I hope the injured recover at the earliest. Agencies are working on rescue operations at the site of the tragedy", PM Modi said.
According to the nspector General (Border Range) SPS Parmar, the blast occurred around 4 pm at the factory. The explosion also damaged buildings nearby, shattering windowpanes and even bringing down the roofs of a couple of them. Several cars parked nearby were also damaged in the blast, with locals saying the explosion was heard a few kilometres away.
The death toll however was expected to rise since several labourers were buried under the debris of the building located in a residential area called Valmiki Ashram near Hansli naala on Jalandhar road in Batala.
Residents in the neighbourhood had in the past complained that the factory was illegal, but claimed that authorities had failed to take any action. Several demands were also made that the factory should be closed down. There was another explosion at the site in 2017, in which one person had died.