An explosion at a firecracker factory in southern India kills 8 people, police say

NEW DELHI — An explosion ripped through a firecracker factory in southern India on Saturday, killing eight people and wounding several others, police said.

There was no immediate word as to what had caused the explosion in the district of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu state. Houses and shops nearby were also damaged, authorities told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Rescuers, police and firefighters rushed to the site.

India has a huge demand for firecrackers, which are used in religious festivals and weddings. There are fatal accidents nearly every year as people work in makeshift factories in the absence of proper safety standards.

In 2018, a massive fire at a firecracker factory in capital of New Delhi killed 17 workers. A year earlier, 23 workers were killed when a blast occurred while they were making firecrackers in a village in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.

Factories start manufacturing firecrackers months before the nation’s biggest Hindu festivals, when people set them off in celebration.