Major fire broke out at a cracker factory in East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh (Press Trust of India photo)
14 women are among the 17 people killed in a huge fire at a firecracker factory in Andhra Pradesh.
There were 30 people at work when the fire began, said officials in Kakinada, 160 km from the port city of Visakhapatnam. It took nearly two hours to put out the huge flames as a lot of inflammable material was feeding the fire.
"We were working inside, when it happened so suddenly. We were thrown a huge distance,'' said a man who survived with minor injuries.
The government has ordered an investigation into whether fire safety precautions had been ignored by the factory's owner.
The factory was operational every year during festival season for the last 10 years and reportedly had licence to operate.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has announced compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to the families of those who died.