Eluru, August 11: Five persons, including three women, died and three others were injured in a cracker blast at Peddayellamilli village in Ungutur mandal on Tuesday.
The blast occurred while crackers were being manufactured in the house of a certain D Kistaiah.
The dead were identified as Kistaiah (60), P Venkata Narayana (30), N Hemalatha (35), D Satyavathi and A Sri Vidya (10). Four houses were also partially damaged due to the impact of the blast. The bodies were shifted to Tadepalligudem government hospital for autopsy.
According to villagers, Kistaiah brought a huge quantity of explosive material on Monday night to manufacture crackers for the Deepavali festival. The total loss was estimated at Rs 1 crore. Rural Development Minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar, district collector A Vani Prasad, SP Ravi Varma and other officials visited the village. The minister promised help to the bereaved family.
–Agencies