By IANS,
Jalgaon (Maharashtra) : Twenty-one people, including 10 women and six minors, were killed and another 35 injured Friday in a major blaze in a fire cracker factory in Jalgaon in Maharashtra.
The fire broke out around 5 p.m. Friday at the Savitri Fire Works company at Parola, around 60 km from here, police said. The factory is owned by the chief of Jalgaon Municipal Council Govind Shirole.
According to an official from Parola police station, the labourers, including at least 10 minors were working in the factory when the fire broke out. They were trapped by the leaping flames, police said.
Among the dead, 17 bodies have yet to be identified and the police have sent them to neighbouring Dhule district for forensic examination.
The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Parola and Dhule, according to medical officer Yogesh Pawar of Parola civil hospital.
The dead include seven men, eight women, four boys and two girls, Pawar added. The condition of at least 10 of the injured is said to be critical.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. Police are investigating the matter.
So far there have been no arrests in connection with the case.