Bengaluru cracker shop fire: "Rules were flouted", alleges ex-Karnataka CM

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India] October 8 (ANI): Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said that the state government must take action against the officials who are responsible for the Attibele firecracker shop explosion in Bengaluru outskirts.
"Strict action against the officials concerned would avoid such incidents in the future," the BJP leader said while speaking to reporters.
He said the rules about the management of crackers were not being followed strictly and the officials concerned have been negligent in this regard.
"The Attibele incident had been a big tragedy and more such incidents would happen in case the government fails to open its eyes. As many as 14 persons have lost their lives in this gory incident. The government must distribute the compensation to the families of the deceased persons, and arrange for the treatment of the survivors," Bommai alleged, while adding that a similar incident had happened in Haveri as well.
Bommai said storage of such a large quantity of crackers was not permitted under law and this had been the second cracker explosion event in the last one and a half months.
"In Haveri, four persons were killed and in Attibele, 14 persons have lost their lives. This clearly shows that the rules were flouted," Bommai alleged.
He added that the government must take serious note of both these incidents, order an inquiry, and take action against the guilty officials to prevent such incidents in the coming days.
According to officials, seven two-wheelers, a container lorry, and three other vehicles were gutted in the firecracker shop explosion that took place on Saturday afternoon.
The incident took place when the workers at the shop were unloading firecrackers from a vehicle.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the fire accident that happened at a firecracker store in Attibele of Anekal town.
The CM said that there was negligence on the part of the shop owner who is now in police custody.
Deputy CM D K Shivakumar also visited the accident site on Sunday and told the reporters that the incident was a grave one. (ANI)