Two killed in blast in Yeola

Two persons were killed when an effort to dig a well by using gelatine sticks turned tragic in parched Yeola tehsil of Nashik district early on Wednesday.

Yeola police said that labourers Pachunadaji Gujar (45) and Mahadu Bhil (25) were killed instantly while handling the explosives, which went off at around 7 am in Naighavan village area.

The labourers were digging a well in the field of one Sahebrao Shinde in Yeola. The Yeola assembly constituency is represented by former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

The police has arrested the contractor who provided the explosives while the bodies were sent for autopsy to Yeola rural hospital. The deceased had migrated to Yeola from Bhilwada in Rajasthan because of drought.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Rahul Khade identified the arrested contractor as Devilal Gurjar. “The exact reason for the blast will be clear only after investigations. The contractor had a licence but was not available at the site, when the incident occurred,” Mr Khade said.

In a previous incident, at least six people died and several others were injured in a powerful blast in a gelatin factory at Harasur village in Nashik in 2007. The impact of the blast was so powerful that a three-storied building, which housed the explosive company, also collapsed.