Seven killed as firecrackers explode in Orissa

Balasore (Orissa), Sep 28 (IANS) Seven people, including three young children, were killed and a boy was critically hurt after firecrackers kept in a house in Orissa's Balasore district exploded Sunday evening, police said.

The explosion took place at Gunduripada village, some 230 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, in the house of Srustidhar Nayak, who manufactures firecrackers, senior district police officer Monoranjan Mohanty told IANS.

'We are investigating how the fire-crackers exploded,' he said.

Some of Nayak's family members and some of their neighbours were watching television in the home when the firecrackers exploded - with such intensity that the entire house was severely damaged and the seven victims died on the spot, Mohanty said.

A young boy sustained critical injuries and was rushed to a hospital, he said.

Those victims include a 60-year-old man and four girls and two boys, all aged between nine and 20 years, he said.

Nayak, his wife and one of their children were not at home at the time of the accident, Mohanty said.