In the four-hour long fireworks display, a sunflower (sooryakanthi) blossom was the most awaited item - the way colours would unravel in the open sky resembling a sunflower field in full bloom. But in the early hours of Sunday, as the display headed to a climax, the 'sunflower' was to provide a deadly turn to the events.


According to eyewitnesses, a mini-van loaded with gunpowder was parked close to the storehouse containing explosives and it blew up when sparks from the sunflower firecracker fell on it. The storehouse caught fire immediately and the concrete structure exploded hurling concrete shards all over the area.


Minutes before the explosion happened, crackers had started falling randomly. "Usually the cracker is loaded with the pipe being kept in an erect position. This creates the desired direction at the time of burst and the cracker won't fly off misdirected.


In this case, there was a hurried manner in which the cracker was loaded as it was done in the last phase and the pipe was in a slanted position," said Vinod, a local resident who is very knowledgeable in these matters. Vinod suffered an injury on his head after being hit by a heavy object from behind.