Heart-rending scenes were witnessed inside and outside the explosives manufacturing unit as anxious villagers came in droves in search of their near ones who went for work in the morning.
Shock and grief prevailed outside the factory as villagers were unaware for several hours whether their near ones were among those feared killed in the explosion.
Manickam of Mangapatti village could not control his tears as he came in search of his brother-in-law P. Selvakumar trapped inside the building.
“My brother-in-law left in the early hours for work and after a few hours I heard a deafening sound with a huge ball of fire and thick fumes engulfing the area. I immediately left for the factory to check whether Selvakumar was safe. All that we could surmise was that a terrible tragedy has occurred,” he said.
Several women wailed at the entrance of the factory which was closed to enable rescue operations. Irate villagers pelted stones at a few vehicles outside the factory, said eye witnesses.
Another group of villagers banged the Collector’s car at the entrance of the factory. Palanisamy, a middle-aged man who came in search of a worker by name Anand, was shell shocked.
“Anand had left for the early morning shift and then came the news of the explosion,” said Mr. Palanisamy.
Many villagers broke down upon noticing pieces of flesh that were strewn in the vicinity of the blast site. The villagers were shocked upon seeing the completely mutilated bodies of two persons whose identity could not be established immediately.
An aged woman who kept wailing and beating her chest fainted inside the factory premises. The mood was so depressing that none could console the near ones of the workers who met with the terrible tragedy.
Anxious villagers repeatedly kept asking the police, fire fighters and district administration officials about the safety of their near ones during the rescue operations.
The officials too were unable to give a clear picture of the number of victims until evening.
