November 15, 2001	Thursday	Shaba’an 28, 1422

NEW DELHI, Nov 14: Six people burned to death Wednesday when a shop selling firecrackers caught fire while doing brisk business during the Hindu festival of lights in northern India, a report said.

The Press Trust of India said four of the victims in the town of Batala were children. Two other shoppers were hospitalised with severe burns, it said.

Hindus traditionally let off firecrackers to celebrate the annual religious festival of Diwali.

Hospitals in New Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay said they were bracing for hundreds of burn victims from Wednesday evening, when the firecrackers will be put to use.

In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, seven people were seriously injured when the crackers they were illegally making exploded.

One of the injured lost his sight while two others sustained 70 percent burns, PTI said, quoting a senior police officer.

In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, 40 shops, most of them makeshift stalls set up to sell crackers, were gutted in a fire, PTI said.

There was chaos as people making last-minute purchases in Lucknow’s Alambagh market ran for safety, police said.

However, there were no casualties or injuries and the fire brigade quickly brought the blaze under control, PTI quoted police saying.

A government-backed campaign against firecrackers is largely ignored every year during Diwali.—AFP