AHMEDABAD: 18 workers were killed in an explosion at a firecracker factory in Deesa, Banaskantha district in Gujarat on Tuesday. Authorities said rescue operations were ongoing, and the death toll was likely to rise. Firefighters and police are at the scene leading rescue operations. The total number of injured in the incident is yet to be known.

According to reports, the explosion first took place in a gunpowder factory. The impact of the explosion was so huge that body parts of workers were found in nearby fields. The families of workers also reside near the factory. Sources say the owner of the land only had permission to run a godown but was also running an illegal firecracker manufacturing factory.