At least 23 killed, 27 injured in Punjab cracker factory blast

TIL Desk/National/Punjab/ At least 23 people were killed and 27 injured in a blast at a firecracker factory located in a residential area here on Wednesday, officials said. Several people were feared trapped under the debris of the factory building in this town in Gurdaspur district and rescue workers were looking for survivors till late in the evening.

The explosion also damaged buildings nearby, shattering windowpanes and even bringing down the roofs of a couple of them. The explosion was heard kilometres away, local residents said. The blast took place around 4 pm at the factory located in a residential area, Inspector General (Border Range) S P S Parmar told.

Batala Senior Medical Officer Sanjiv Bhalla said, “A total of 23 people have died in the blast.” Eyewitness Sukhraj Singh said one car landed in a drain because of the impact. Another Batala resident Rajpal Khokkar was passing by after a visit to a nearby gurdwara when the explosion took place.