Toll in Vizag firecracker unit blast rises to 6

The toll in the explosion at a firecracker manufacturing unit near here has risen to six with the recovery of one more body today, while a senior Andhra Pradesh Minister visited the mishap spot.
Five workers, most of them women, were killed and nine others injured in the blast and subsequent blaze at Rohit Fire Works in Gokulapadu area under S Rayavaram police station limits last evening.
Body of another worker, Sambangi Ramana, was fished out from a well located adjoining the factory this morning by Fire Department officials.
The 34-year-old was blown away in the powerful blast and fell into the well, District Fire Officer J Mohan Rao said.

Five of the injured, including a 13-year-old-boy, are said to be in critical condition and undergoing treatment at Seven Hills Hospital here.
The boy, Nanepalli Durga, was not an employee of the firecracker unit, but was playing nearby its premises at the time of the explosion, said Assistant SP of Narsipatnam, B Satya Yesh Babu.

Home Minister N Chinarajappa today visited the spot and said he would recommend a higher compensation to the families of the deceased.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu yesterday sanctioned Rs 2 lakh per family and the cheques have been handed over to the kin of the deceased.

"The workers hail from a very poor background and hence I shall try to increase the compensation amount," Chinarajappa said.
For the injured, the Government will bear the entire cost of treatment and we shall see that some compensation is also given to them, he said.