At Least 18 Dead in Andhra Firecracker Blast

At least 18 people died and several others were injured when a massive explosion ripped through a firecracker manufacturing unit in Vetlapalem village, Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh, on Saturday afternoon. The blast, which occurred around 2 p.m. at Surya Fireworks near the Godavari canal in Samarlakota mandal, sent bodies scattering into nearby paddy fields and triggered panic across surrounding villages.

Police and local officials reported that the explosion followed a fire at the facility, where around 20 workers, many of them women, were employed at the time. The force of the blast was so intense that explosions echoed up to five kilometers away, shattering windows in nearby homes and cracking the slab of a school in an adjacent village. Dense smoke billowed from the site as flames engulfed the unit, trapping workers inside. Firefighting teams from two engines arrived promptly, supported by police and other emergency services, to contain the blaze and aid in rescue efforts. Authorities used drones to search for scattered body parts, while local residents assisted in recovering remains using makeshift stretchers.

District Collector Sagili Shan Mohan and Superintendent of...