The death toll in the Una firecracker factory blast rose to eight after two seriously wounded succumbed to their injuries at the PGIMER, Chandigarh.
The deceased have been identified as Jafri, 45, and Hasgiri, 40, both migrant labourers from UP, who lived in Santoshgarh of Una district. Una deputy commissioner Raghav Sharma said the bodies were being brought back and will be handed over to the families after conducting a post-mortem.
A blast in the illegally run firecracker factory at Bathu in Tahliwal Industrial Area in Haroli subdivision on February 22 had left six women dead on the spot and 14 injured.
Nine seriously hurt are still undergoing treatment at PGIMER while three are admitted to the Zonal Hospital, Una.
The police had arrested the manager of the factory while its owner is still at large.
Divisional commissioner, Kangra, SS Guleria, and a SIT headed by DIG Sumedha Dwivedi are conducting a separate probe into the incident.
Preliminary investigations have found that the alleged factory was being run illegally sans regulatory approval from various departments.
The investigators also found another firecracker factory running illegally within the 2-km radius of where the blast took place and both these units are linked to same promoter.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur had on Thursday said in the house of the assembly that those responsible for mishap will not be spared.
