Kerala fireworks explosion toll rises to 17; four victims identified through DNA analysis

Thrissur (Kerala): One more person who had been hospitalised following the Mundathikode fireworks explosion died at Thrissur Medical College on Monday, police said.

With this, the death toll in the incident has risen to 17.

According to Thrissur Medical College police, the deceased has been identified as Rakesh (29) of Kundannur, Thrissur, who was engaged in fireworks manufacturing at Mundathikode, where the explosions occurred on April 21.

Rakesh was active in Thrissur Pooram and Pulikali (tiger dance) circles.

Police said Rakesh attempted to escape from the fireworks manufacturing unit after noticing the explosion, but suffered serious burn injuries and was admitted to Thrissur Medical College.

He had sustained over 85 per cent burns and was admitted to the ICU, police said.

The condition of one more injured person remains critical, police added.

Of the 38 persons present at the site, 17 have died, while four remain missing.

Meanwhile, four people who died were identified through DNA analysis tests.

A government press release on Monday said that body parts identified through DNA analysis belong to Abhijith (27), of Puthurkkara; Vishnu Vinod (35), of Manakkody; Girish (42), of Kottappuram; and Suresh (50), of Thekkumkara Desam.

Police officials said around 150 body parts were recovered following searches after the explosion, from which the DNA samples were extracted and analysed.

The District Collector had held a meeting with relatives of the deceased persons and decided to hand over the body parts to them, the government press release said.

The fireworks were being manufactured for Thiruvambady Devaswom as part of the Thrissur Pooram festivities.

The licensee of the unit had also suffered burn injuries and died earlier.

Following the incident, Thrissur Pooram celebrations were scaled down.

Apart from the police, a judicial commission headed by Justice CN Ramachandran is appointed to probe the incident.