- Cause of fire under investigation: police chief.
- A fire broke out during preparations for the Hindu festival.
- The Indian Prime Minister offers his condolences to the families of the victims.
A firecracker storage facility in southern India caught fire on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, police said, the second such incident in three days.
Nakul Rajendra Deshmukh, police chief of Thrissur district in Kerala state, said AFP that rescue operations had “ended” after the deadly fire, which also left 15 people injured, two of them in critical condition.
The causes of the fire are being investigated, he added.
Local media said it exploded during preparations for a Hindu festival.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a social media post that he was “saddened” by the loss of life and offered his “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims.
On Sunday, 20 people died in a similar fire at a firecracker factory in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu.
Industrial accidents are common in India, often due to lack of compliance and poor implementation of safety regulations.
Last month, another fire at a fireworks factory in western India killed 17 people.
