Death toll mounts to 21 in Virudhunagar factory fire in Tamil Nadu

The death toll in the fire incident that took place at the firecracker factory in Virudhunagar on February 12 has mounted to 21, R Kannan, Viruthunagar district collector confirmed on Friday.

This came after a person injured in the incident succumbed to injuries.

Earlier, the Virudhunagar police have arrested one person in connection with the fire incident.

Superintendent of Police (SP) of Virudhunagar P Perumal had said a case has been registered against six people so far and one person has been arrested in the matter.

Nine people died on the spot in the firecracker accident. More than 30 injured were admitted to hospitals at Sattur, Kovilpatti, and Sivakasi.

An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each has been approved from the Prime Minister Office's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to a fire in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar. Rs 50,000 has been approved for those who were critically injured in the incident.Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palswami also announced ex-gratia amounts of Rs 3 lakhs each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the critically injured in the fire incident.

( With inputs from ANI )