Thrissur: One person was killed and five injured in a blast at a quarry at Vazhakode near Wadakkanchery in Kerala's Thrissur district on Monday night. Public feared an earthquake has struck as tremors of the blast were felt within a 10-km radius.
One of the quarry owners, Mullurkara native Abdul Rashid, 45, was killed as the buried explosives went off on Monday evening.
His brother Abdul Aziz, 47, was also injured in the incident. Both jointly own the quarry.
Rashid and Aziz are the brothers of former Mullurkara Panchayat president M H Abdul Salam, a CPM leader.
Four critical
Another Mullarkara native Aboobacker, 45; Ummar, 40; and Ali Kunju, 35, and migrant labourer Chotta, 24, were the other four injured. Three of them are in critical condition. While Ali Kunju has been admitted to Ashwani hospital, the four others are at Daya Hospital.
The blast happened at 7:40pm on Monday.
The quarry had been defunct for six months. When the quarry stopped functioning, the remaining explosives were buried under the ground. The blast occurred while Aziz and others tried to remove these, according to the preliminary conclusion. There are also reports that they had come to fish at the quarry pond.
A 2-metre-deep pit was formed at the spot where the explosives were buried as they went off. Cracks developed on the walls of several houses in the nearby areas.
A police probe has commenced.
