3 killed in explosion in Virudhunagar
The site of the explosion at Keezha Uppiligundu near Kariyapatti in Virudhunagar district.
The villagers said the blasts at the quarry were damaging their houses. Walls and asbestos roofs of many houses had developed cracks. V. Mahalakshmi, 38, said that every time a rock was blasted in the quarry, her house shook. Even the plastering on the oor had peeled o, she said.
The police pacied the protesters and got them to disperse after an hour. Ms. Mahalakshmi alleged that a few months ago, two children were run over by speeding trucks of the stone quarry, and a minor girl had lost a leg.
Mr. Abdullah was camping at the Aviyoor police station, overseeing the retrieval of the bodies from the accident site. The remains have been sent to the Virudhunagar Government Medical College hospital for a postmortem.
Meanwhile, the police have booked Rajkumar, his relative D. Sriramji, Sethu, and his son, Ramamoorthi, under the provisions of the Explosive Substance Act, and Sections 286 (negligent handling of explosives endanger human life) and 304 (II) (for culpable homicide not amounting to death) of the Indian Penal Code. The police have arrested Sethu and are on the lookout for the others.
Solatium announced
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin expressed grief over the deaths and said a solatium would be provided to the aected families after getting the approval of the Election Commission.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami sought a probe into the explosion and alleged that the DMK government had not taken any measures to prevent such incidents. AMMK founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran said the State government should take measures to close the unit permanently.