Five feared dead in a quarry blast in Chikkaballapur

Exactly a month after five people died in a quarry blast near Shimoga, six people lost their lives in a quarry blast in Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka. The incident took place around midnight in Hirenagaveri near Chikkaballapur on Tuesday.

The blast occurred allegedly in an illegal quarry, against which the police had registered a FIR on February 7. While five people died on the spot, a sixth person died in the hospital where he was admitted for treatment.

The blast is said to have occurred due to gelatin sticks kept hidden from the police. The police raid on February 7 had found 14 gelatin gel tubes and 17 detonators at the location. Several spots in the region were seen used for quarrying illegally, as per the FIR which has named four people as accused, including the owners of the quarry Raghavendra Reddy and Nagaraju, both of whom are absconding.