The death toll in the firecracker explosion in Odisha's Puri rose to six on Friday after two more individuals succumbed to injuries, a senior official said.
The explosion happened during Lord Jagannath's Chandan Jatra on Wednesday night.
As per the statement issued by the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), "Two other injured persons succumbed to their injuries in the hospital, while 24 others are undergoing treatment."
CM Patnaik orders investigation
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ordered an inquiry into the mishappening and announced an ex gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
The SRC statement further said, "The Puri collector has already taken steps for the payment of Rs 4 lakh each towards ex gratia assistance to the next of kin of the deceased.” Puri Police said that it has registered a suo motu criminal case and an investigation is underway.
An additional chief secretary-level officer of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Satyabrata Sahu, who is also the SRC, has started a probe into the incident.
Explosion happened while devotees were celebrating festival
Notably, the incident happened on Wednesday night when hundreds of people had gathered along the banks of Narendra Pushkarinee, a local waterbody, to observe the rituals.
According to police, a group of devotees were celebrating the festival with firecrackers when, a sparking splinter hit the pile, causing an explosion. This prompted chaos and some people jumped into the waterbody to save themselves.
Soon after the incident, the injured were admitted to different hospitals. Later, Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, Khurda Collector Chanchal Rana, and Health Secretary Shalini Pandit visited the hospital and supervised the treatment of the injured people.
CM Naveen Patnaik also visited a private hospital the next day and met patients. Expressing grief over the incident and said that the cost of the treatment would be borne by the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
(With PTI Inputs)
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