The death toll in last week’s explosion at a firecracker unit at Kurungudi, near Kattumannarkovil, rose to nine, with the death of M. Thenmozhi, 32 at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) in Puducherry on Friday.
Sources said that Ms. Thenmozhi, who had suffered 70% burns, succumbed to injuries at around 2 a.m. on Friday.
With this all the nine women who were present in the firecracker unit during the blast have died.
While five women died on the spot, two others succumbed to burns at the Kattumanmarkovil Government Hospital.
D. Anitha and M. Thenmozhi succumbed to burns at Jipmer.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the unit’s license had expired and it was not renewed. The unit had started operations on September 4 and had brought the explosives without authorisation.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known and the administration has constituted a committee to probe into the accident.
