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Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow
With one more injured person succumbing to his injuries, the toll in Sunday's three-wheeler tempo blast in a village in Hardoi district about 120 km from Lucknow has gone up to 16.
Completely ruling out a terrorist hand in the incident, the police believe that the explosion was caused by a whole lot of crude crackers being carried by one of the passengers, who also died in the blast.
"With the festival of lights -- Diwali -- getting close, this is the time for cracker production. One of the passengers, whose father is a licensed cracker manufacturer in that area, was carrying three bagful of these crude crackers , which ignited due to the jerks caused by a rumble-strip speed-breaker on the road," Deputy Inspector General of Police Arun Kumar told rediff.com.
Asked if ordinary crackers were capable of causing such a serious explosion, Kumar said, "Well, we have seen this happening in Agra where a similar blast was caused by crude crackers."
"When so many crackers are packed together, they are capable of igniting on account of friction caused by heavy jerks," he explained.
One cyclist, who was injured in the blast, is still in hospital, the police said. Among those killed were five women and four children. Five of the victims belonged to the same family.
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