Kolkata, April 2 -- Eight members of a family, including four children, were killed in an explosion in a household firecracker manufacturing unit in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal late on Monday night.
Three family members, including an elderly woman and her two sons who ran the unit, had a lucky escape as they were not in the house at the time of the incident. Their neighbours said that two brothers, Chandrakanta Banik and Tushar Banik, used to run the firecracker unit.
After the preliminary investigation, police suspect that the fire started in the kitchen because of a leak in the LPG cylinder. As large amounts of firecrackers and gunpowder were stored in the house, the blaze soon spread to the other rooms, gutting a portion ...