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At least 11 people were killed following a blast in a firecracker factory at Pingla in the West Midnapore district.
Some 33-odd people were said to have been working at the factory at the time of the blast.
The factory owner Ram Maity and his wife have reportedly been killed in the blast; while another owner Ranjan Maity has been arrested. He was trying to flee the spot.
Despite repeated attempts, West Midnapore, District Magistrate, JP Meena, could not be reached for comments.
The bodies were badly burnt and it is difficult to even identify their gender, the officials said, adding the bodies were taken to Midnapore Medical College Hospital for post—mortem.
Police said the factory is illegal and the blast took place shortly before 10 pm last night and the fire has been put out.
All the victims were employees of the factory who were brought from Murshidabad district, police said.
The police detained the owner of the house, Ranjan Maiti, and are looking for another person in connection with the explosion.
Police said they were scanning for other such firecracker units in neighbouring areas like Sabang and Balichak, besides Pingla.
Meanwhile, CID sources in Kolkata said that a CID team is going to visit Pingla during the day and a central forensic team has reached there.
(With additional reporting from PTI)
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