Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday ordered a magisterial inquiry into Wednesday’s blast at a private fireworks unit at Mudalipatti, near Sivakasi. The Virudhunagar police arrested 12 persons. Thirty-eight persons died and 55 are being treated in various hospitals. The probe by the District Revenue Officer would go into how the factory functioned on September 5, a day after its licence was cancelled, and the cause of the blast, an official release said. The State government had allocated Rs.1.13 crore for establishing a burns ward at the Sivakasi government hospital. Steps would be taken to open an intensive care unit, an operation theatre, a plastic surgery unit, an orthopaedic unit, a physiotherapy unit and a rehabilitation centre; double the bed strength to 60 and make the burns ward a centre of excellence under the control of the Madurai Medical College Hospital. A total of Rs.4.50 crore would be earmarked, the release said. The Virudhunagar Collector was directed to make an immediate inspection of all cracker units.
