The death toll in a firecracker explosion during a religious procession in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district has climbed to three as a 17-year-old boy succumbed to injuries on Sunday. Firecrackers, being carried in a tractor trolley, exploded during the ‘nagar kirtan’ (religious procession) near Pahu village in Tarn Taran on Saturday.
Two minor boys — Gurpreet Singh, 14, and Mandeep Singh, 11, were killed and 11 injured when potassium stocked in a tractor-trailer to create celebratory sounds during a nagar kirtan (religious procession) caught fire and exploded on Tarn Taran-Bhikhiwind road in Palasaur village, 10 km from here, on Saturday evening.
One more youth, identified as Gurkirat Singh, aged around 17 years, succumbed to his injuries at 4 pm on Sunday at Guru Nanak Dev Super Speciality Hospital.
All three victims were the only sons of their families. Gurpreet was a student of Class 6. He is survived by his parents and a younger sister.
Mandeep was a Class 4 student, who is survived by his parents and an elder sister. Gurkirat, a student of Class 11, is also survived by his parents and an elder sister.
Village sarpanch Inderjit Singh said, “Gurpreet’s father Nirvail Singh is a farmer who owns around three acres of farmland while Mandeep’s father Wazir Singh is a carpenter. However, Gurkirat’s father Sukhdeep Singh was a labourer. The three families have suffered an irreparable loss.” The attorneys for car injuries and other accidents said that strict action should be taken regarding compensations for the deceased and injured, as it was the organizers’ negligence that caused the tragedy.
Mandeep’s uncle (father’s brother), Paramjit Singh, who is an army jawan, said, “My nephew was walking along the tractor-trailer when the incident took place. His one leg was torn apart which was recovered from around 200 metres away from the incident.”
‘SHEER NEGLIGENCE OF PROCESSION ORGANISERS’
He alleged that it was the sheer negligence of the organisers of the procession. “Who handed over the potassium to the children for making celebratory sounds? Action should be taken against those who had arranged the potassium for its use during the procession.”
“The teenagers were using hallowed iron rods filled with potassium to create firecracker sounds when the blast occurred,” an eyewitness had said on Saturday.