Kurnool: At least 11 workers were killed and several others injured in a massive explosion of detonators in a stone quarry in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district on Friday.
The incident happened at around 8.30 pm in private stone quarry belonging to Srinivasa Chowdary at Hathi Belagal village of Aluru block, district officials said, confirming the deaths.
The impact of the explosion was so massive that huge blocks of stone from the quarry flung into air and fell on a workers’ shed in which nearly 30 labourers were taking rest after the day-long work.
The explosion resulted in eruption of flames from the quarry that spread to the surroundings, setting afire three tractors, a truck and another shed, which got completely gutted.
It also caused deafening sounds and triggered tremors in the nearby villages, causing cracks in several houses, forcing villagers to run out of their homes in panic.
As per the latest reports, eight bodies were taken out of a shed. Some more people were believed to be crushed under the stone blocks.
The injured were shifted to Aluru government hospital immediately. All the workers are said to be from Odisha.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over the mishap and asked Kurnool district authorities to rush to the spot to oversee relief operations.
YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan expressed shock over the incident and conveyed their condolences to the bereaved families. Pawan appealed to the government to take action against illegal quarry owners.
(The Hindustan Times)