4 held for making crackers illegally in house

Four persons were arrested today for illegally making firecrackers in their house here and booked under the Explosives Act, police said.
The four were arrested during a raid to crackdown on illegal cracker units in view of frequent fire accidents, they said.
Police also seized crackers worth Rs.5,000 from them and registered cases against them under the Explosives Act.
Sivakasi in Virudhunagar District in southern Tamil Nadu is the fireworks manufacturing hub of the country and the town and its surrounding villages are dotted with large, medium and small scale units.
Fire mishaps, mostly in small units, has been a recurring problem resulting in fatalities with lack of safety norms blamed for most of them.

In the latest incidents, two employees were killed and one injured when semi-finished crackers exploded at a fireworks unit on June 25 and a woman was injured as three houses, including one where crackers were being made illegally, were damaged following a blast yesterday.