Udupi: Blast at Sooda Stone Quarry - Two Women Killed
Pics: Pramod Shankerapura
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Jun 19: Two women were killed in a blast that occured at a stone quarry at Sooda-Nandalike here on Tuesday June 19.
The deceased are Mallavva (36) and Ambike (24), both from Uttara Kannada district.
The quarry is run by Joy Stone Crushers. The women had been employed there for the past five years.
The incident occured at around 3.30 pm. A case has been registered against quarry owner Joy, and the manager and other staff.
The quarry is located in approximately 10 acres of land, licensed under the name of Kiran, son of Joy.
Karkala tahsildar Jagannath Rao, circle inspector Valentine D'Souza, sub-inspector Azmat Ali and MLA Gopal bhandary visited the spot.
The blast reportedly occurred due to lightning which struck the shed where the explosives were stored. The impact of the blast was severe, to the extent that the bodies of both the deceased people were charred completely body parts mutilated.
Two other sheds close to the blast spot have also been completely damaged. Even the pillars of the shed were found to be scattered.
The rescue team had to strive hard to remove one of the bodies, as it was completely buried inside the mud and also continous rain caused hindrance to their rescue operations.
There was heavy rainfall followed by lightning and thunder on Tuesday afternoon. It is reported that these two women, after their lunch, kept the explosives inside the shed and were returning. Lightning hit the shed and the tragedy took place. The total quantity of explosives is yet to be ascertained.
Karkala town police have registered a case.