Smoke billows following an explosion at a crackers unit at Vetlapalem village in Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh, on February 28, 2026. Photograph: Particular Association
Twenty employees, together with 9 girls, had been burnt alive, and 9 others are battling for his or her lives with extreme burn accidents in a blast on the Sri Surya Firecrackers complicated at Vetlapalem village in Samarlakota mandal in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada district on Saturday afternoon.
Two different injured individuals are reported to be out of hazard. All of the deceased and the injured belong to close by villages.
The explosion occurred round 2.30 p.m. when 31 employees had been current on the unit. Nineteen employees who had attended the morning shift had left through the lunch break. 4 firecracker models positioned inside the similar campus had been gutted after piles of cracker inventory and explosive materials went up in flames.
Preliminary report suggests the blast occurred in the principle manufacturing unit when a personnel had simply resumed work after the lunch break.
Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh, who rushed to the spot earlier than Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, advised The Hindu that in keeping with a survivor, many of the deceased and injured had been conversing when the explosion happened.
After inspecting the location and consoling the relations of the victims on the Peddapuram Group Well being Centre, the Chief Minister mentioned, “The proprietor of the firecracker unit is believed to have saved an enormous amount of explosives after receiving substantial orders. A probe has been ordered to establish the amount of explosives saved within the unit.”
In an official launch, District Collector S. Shan Mohan recognized the 9 girls who had been burnt alive as Gandi Manga, Ok. Krupamma, Gampala Manga, S. Satyaveni, Thumpala Lova, Madapalli Chinni, Nukella Devi, Sakumalla Raghavamma, and Makara Raghavamma. Ten of the deceased had been residents of Vetlapalem village.
A number of employees who sustained critical burns and jumped into an adjoining irrigation channel succumbed to their accidents earlier than they may very well be rescued. Some our bodies had been discovered scattered within the surrounding paddy fields because of the influence of the blast.
The 9 injured individuals present process remedy on the Kakinada Authorities Common Hospital have been recognized as Sappa Satyavathi, Chitikela Lakshmi, Mortha Srinu, Katheti Srinu, D. Raju, V. Lovaraju, V. Daveedu, P. Srinivasu, and Darsipati Lova Raju.
All our bodies have been shifted to the Group Well being Centre in Peddapuram for autopsy examination, which will likely be performed on Sunday.
Native youths who seen smoke and flames rushed to the spot and helped retrieve our bodies from the blast web site, the canal, and fields. Catastrophe Response personnel arrived inside an hour.
In line with Fireplace Division officers, the blast may need been brought on by the storage of a giant amount of explosive materials in a small, confined house. The police and the Fireplace Division officers are investigating. In the meantime, the proprietor of Sri Surya Firecrackers, Adabala Veerababu, a local of Vetlapalem village, is absconding. The police have launched a manhunt to hint him.
Printed – February 28, 2026 03:39 pm IST
