Angry locals and relatives of workers blocked a highway near an explosives manufacturing unit in Nagpur district, where a blast claimed nine lives on Sunday, and demanded they be allowed to enter the premises to see the bodies.<\/p>\n
The crowd was later dispersed, the police said.<\/p>\n
According to sources, the bodies of the victims were still inside the premises, where the blast took place at 9 am.<\/p>\n
Nine people were killed and three others injured in the incident, police said.<\/p>\n
A number of ambulances were stationed at the entrance gate of the Solar Industries factory, located at Bazaargaon, about 30 km from the district headquarters.<\/p>\n
A tense situation prevailed as nearly 200 people, including local residents and relatives of the workers, gheraoed the factory’s entrance gate.<\/p>\n
A senior police official told PTI that there were explosives near the spot.<\/p>\n
The explosives needed to be secured and bomb disposable squads were at the spot, he said.<\/p>\n
The process of securing the explosives was underway and thereafter the bodies will be recovered, the official said.<\/p>\n
Angry locals and relatives of the victims blocked the Amravati-Nagpur road outside the factory.<\/p>\n
They raised slogans in front of the factory’s entrance gate and blocked the Amravati-Nagpur highway, demanding that they be allowed to enter the premises to see the bodies of their kin.<\/p>\n
The police later dispersed the crowd, an official said.<\/p>\n
Heavy police security was deployed in the area.<\/p>\n
The father of Aarti Sahare, who is among the deceased, told reporters that he got a message about the death of her daughter at 9.30 am and was still waiting for further information.<\/p>\n
The blast also caused severe damage to the factory building, as per police.<\/p>\n
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a post on X termed the incident as unfortunate and condoled the death of the nine people.<\/p>\n
The state government will provide an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has approved the decision, he said.<\/p>\n
Fadnavis said nine people, including six women, died in the blast at Solar Industries. It is a company that manufactures drones and explosives for the armed forces, he said.<\/p>\n
The state government stands firmly with families of the victims on this sad occasion, he said.<\/p>\n