Five killed as firecracker stock explodes in Siwan house, police station chief suspended

Five people, three of them children, were killed on Friday evening when firecrackers being made inside a house in Alampur village in Bihar’s Siwan district caught fire and set off a chain of explosions that went on for about two hours.

The blast happened at about 5:30 pm at the home of Mohd Amiruddin Mian, 65, who was reported to have been in the firecracker trade for years. He died along with his two granddaughters, aged 14 and 8, and a 10-year-old boy from the neighbourhood. The fifth victim had not been identified by late night. Three others suffered minor burns.

Superintendent of Police Bharat Soni confirmed the toll. “Based on the assessment by the medical team, the Civil Surgeon has confirmed that five dead bodies have been recovered,” he said. A medical team said there might be another body under the debris, and the search of the house continued after the fire was put out.

Blasts slowed the rescue

Residents told police that seven or eight people were in the house when the fire started and that two or three of them got out. Firecrackers kept going off long after the first explosion, and the front of the house collapsed onto the road, which made it hard for rescuers to reach the rubble and identify the dead.

District Magistrate Vijay Prakash Meena oversaw the rescue. Fire, medical, electricity and dog squad teams were sent to the village, which lies under the Jamo Bazar police station. A Forensic Science Laboratory team and a bomb detection and disposal squad examined the site, and police used drones over the damaged house. The area was cordoned off.

Police officers suspended

Soni suspended the station house officer of Jamo Bazar, Dhiraj Kumar, and the local chowkidar, Chandrika Manjhi, with immediate effect for alleged negligence at the police station level. Meena said the administration had received information that firecrackers were being made at the house.

“We will register an FIR and investigate where the firecrackers were sourced,” Soni said. “A special police team under the leadership of the SDPO Maharajganj, Aman Kumar, has been formed.” The circle inspector of Maharajganj has been named investigating officer.

Neighbours said the family held a licence connected to the firecracker trade and had worked in it for about 20 years. Police said they would check whether a licence existed and whether any verification had been skipped.

Before the festive season

The explosion came a little over two weeks before Diwali, with demand for crackers about to peak. The Supreme Court and pollution regulators have been weighing rules on their sale and use this season.

Police said the people who had left the house before the blast were being traced, and that more details would follow once the site examination was complete.