A deafening blast tore through the narrow lanes of Kho Nagoriyan in Jaipur on Tuesday, leaving devastation in its wake. Zebunissa (60) had just served lunch to her husband Fakhruddin and was washing dishes when the first explosion shook the neighbourhood. The sound was so intense that it seemed to rouse the entire locality. Stepping outside, she witnessed chaos spilling onto the road.
A man lay on the ground, pleading for water. Nearby, another victim, his body blackened by burns, screamed for help. “Some people brought water. Others started calling for help,” she recalled. Her home stands only a short distance from the building where, residents allege, firecrackers had been stored illegally for years before the explosion and subsequent fire.
The injured workers emerged as best they could. Some stumbled onto the road. Others collapsed where they stood. Neighbours rushed towards them while flames and smoke continued to pour from the building. One resident claimed that firecrackers were manufactured there and that the unit had been operating for several years.
“I got a call saying there was a fire,” he said. “A water tanker was brought. We took the hose pipe and tried to enter. We managed to pull out three or four people. By the time the ambulances arrived, they were taken to hospital. Others were still trapped inside.” The fire spread rapidly, preventing rescuers from reaching everyone. “While trying to rescue them, my clothes caught fire and I suffered burns on my leg,” he added.
Yakub, another resident, said an LPG cylinder kept inside the building was removed before it could explode. He estimated that eight to 10 people were inside when the fire broke out. About 200 metres away, Mohammad Zia watched flames rise above the neighbourhood. “You could see the fire from a distance and hear the sound of firecrackers exploding,” he said. “People ran towards the building carrying buckets of water.”
He reported that three or four workers were pulled from the building. “One person was writhing in pain. Another died at the spot,” he said. “Officials arrived around 40 minutes after the fire started.” Residents expressed shock that such an operation existed in their midst. “Sometimes there would be the smell of firecrackers,” Yakub said. “But most of the time the building remained locked. Nobody really knew who was running it.”
