“First there was a small blast. After about 8-10 minutes, there was a massive explosion.”
“It became so dark because of the smoke, we couldn’t see the sun.”
“My house is three kilometres from the factory. Our windows broke open.”
“There was a stench of dead bodies all around soon after the blast.”
On 6 February, at around 11:25 am, a firecracker factory in Madhya Pradesh’s Harda district witnessed a series of explosions, which has killed at least 12 people and injured over 220. While some locals initially felt it was a “plane crash” others described the “ground shaking” as though there was an “earthquake.”
The owners of the firecracker factory – Rajesh and Somesh Agrawal – had "illegally held excessive quantity of explosives," the First Information Report (FIR) registered in the case stated.
The duo, and factory supervisor Rafiq, have been arrested under several non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as Section 3 (punishment for causing explosion likely to endanger life and property) the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
However, Harda locals that The Quint spoke to claimed that several complaints had been filed against the firecracker factory – namely Rajesh Fireworks – due to allegedly “illegal operations”.
Ram Kishore Dogney, the Congress MLA from Harda, too said that this is the third such incident at the factory and that Rajesh Agrawal alias Raju, had been convicted in 2021 by a Sessions Court and sent to jail for 10 years.
Rajesh was convicted on 7 July 2021 under Section 5 (making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances) of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and was punished with a jail term of 10 years and a fine of Rs 10,000.
The Quint speaks to locals in Harda who were witness to explosion at the cracker factory and those who were injured and are receiving treatment to trace what transpired on the morning of 6 February even as MLA Dogne demanded an unbiased probe into the incident and alleged that at least 100 workers were under the debris amid reports of missing people.
‘Carried Friend on a Thela; He Couldn’t Make It’
“Suddenly, there was a blast. Everyone was shouting bhaago bhaago (run, run)! There was chaos all around. Although we managed to come out of the factory, the blast was so intense that the ground was shaking,” said Rukhsar Bano, a worker at the factory. She claimed that there were at least 3,000 workers in the factory across its four floors.
The Quint hasn't been able to independently verify this number.
What may have started off as a minor fire grew into a series of massive explosions in a span of 8-10 minutes. Soon, debris from the factory started flying and falling off at houses and many vehicles close by causing instant damage. It even injured stray cattle in the vicinity.
“My father was walking outside the factory when he got hit on the head by the debris. My wife got injured too. The wall of my sister’s house, which is in the vicinity, collapsed,” Jagdish, a resident of Harda, said.
The fire brigade came within 20-25 minutes after the blast, a local Rajkumar Maurya, who was at the factory's vicinity when the explosions occurred, told The Quint. But Maurya lost his 22-year-old friend Priyanshu Prajapati to the explosion.
“Priyanshu had gone to give a tiffin to his cousin, Anup, who used to work in the factory. While Anup is getting treatment at a Bhopal hospital, Priyanshu was fatally injured. We carried him to the hospital on a thela (cart). But he succumbed to his injuries,” Maurya lamented.
‘Where Are Rest of the Workers?’
Locals that The Quint spoke to claimed that the aftershocks of the explosion were felt within a radius of five kilometers.
“I live three kilometres away from the factory. When the explosion happened, the windows of my house broke open. Those who had glass panes, their windows completely shattered. We thought it was a plane crash, said Priyanka Dubey, an advocate from Harda.
She alleged that there’s no trace of the migrant workers who were staying in a temporary shelter on the firecracker factory premises.
Meanwhile, Anand Jat, a Harda local who runs a coaching centre for UPSC aspirants, alleged to The Quint that there were at least 1,300 permanent workers at the factory and twice as many contractual ones. “I am suspecting the death toll to be way more than what is being reported,” he claimed.
Dogne told The Quint that the explosions on 6 February led to debris from all the three floors of the firecracker factory caving into the basement. He said that although there are “no official records of registered workers in the factory,” his team has estimated at least 600 people work at the factory. “Where did they go?” he asked.
Harda's current Collector Aditya Singh told The Quint on 11 February, that 13 people have died so far, of which two could not be identified, 185 people have been injured. On being asked about allegations of more workers trapped under debris and the death toll going up, Singh said, "The rescue and rehabilitation is going on, and until then, one should not be spreading rumours."
He added that the administration is leaving "no stone unturned" to rehabilitate the people who have been rescued from the site of the explosion.
'Held More Explosives Than Prescribed, Possible Use of TNT': Harda MLA
Dubey claimed that the firecrackers that likely caused the explosion at around 11:20 am on 6 February were bursting late into the night till 3 am the next morning.
“It became so dark after the explosions, we couldn’t see the sun,” Maurya said and claimed that the overall temperature of the area around the factory had risen.
Dogne, while addressing the state Assembly on 7 February, said that owners were allegedly using TNT or Trinitrotoluene – a potent explosive, purportedly only for military use – in manufacturing the firecrackers, which made the explosion even more calamitous.
He alleged to The Quint, “The owners had two licenses – both invalid – to store 15 kgs of explosives. But they held 15 quintals, nearly 100 times the prescribed limit. This was all happening under the purview of administrative officers.”
Harda Collector Aditya Singh told The Quint, "The investigation is ongoing and we can comment on the matter only after it is over. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the matter. Several forensic teams have also been deployed. My request is to please not create panic."
'More Workers Likely Under Debris'
“My neighbour’s three children are missing. There are dead bodies of children and people all around the factory,” Rukhsar Bano said.
A day after the fire, Indore Commissioner Pawan Sharma had told reporters that the rescue operation had concluded and 134 people had been rescued.
“The hot debris – it is being reported temperature in the explosion exceeded 5000 degrees Celsius – was cooled using 23 fire tenders and has been removed...We were told that there was a basement in the building. We checked for one but it wasn’t there. We will keep looking,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, Jat claimed that the area around the factory smells of burnt dead bodies.
MLA Dogney too demanded that the basement be dug out to check for workers’ bodies. “We suspect at least 100-200 workers could be trapped under. A few people have complaint to me that their relatives and friends are missing,” he said in the state Assembly.
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