Fire from bidi may have triggered explosion

BRAHMANBOR(Pingla): Home to 120 families, this nondescript village had no reason to hit the headlines. Apart from a handful of tribals, the villagers are mostly farmers. They were at peace with their simple existence, but they knew danger was lurking on the fringes.
When tragedy struck on Wednesday, most of them were in deep sleep but not Farooq Shiekh.This 12-year-old labourer at the cracker factory went outside to respond to nature’s call when he could smell someone smoking bidi somewhere nearby. “I could hear someone crushing the butt underfoot. Immediately after that there was a deafening sound. The ground under me shook. It was followed by a series of explosions,” he said from the bed at Midnapore Medical College.
The boy said they had bulk orders for crackers for the coming Kali Puja in boisakh-jaisthya. “Three trucks loaded with crackers were dispatched a few days ago. Crackers were heaped inside the house. Factory owner Ram Maity used to stay with us and his wife cooked for us,” Farooq said.
Mustaq Ahmed, another survivor, had a similar experience. “There was a dazzling night and a huge sound. We ran for our lives. The first thought that came to my mind was to leave the place. Explosions took place one after another. I could feel a burning sensation in the back. I chanced to meet a villager Krishnaprasad Bera and asked for Rs 50 to catch a train to Murshidabad. But Bera won’t let me go. He brought me to this hospital,” said 14-year old Mustaq.
Khokon Maji, 34, the oldest of the survivors, pointed to the tattered clothes of his colleagues to explain the impact of the explosion. “It could have been worse had it been a few days ago. We used to work round the clock with piles of crackers all around us,” said Maji, who is covered head to toe in bandages.