Diwali blazes and firecracker accidents kill at least three across India

A firecracker shop near Swarn Mandir in Falna town, in Rajasthan's Pali district, went up around 10 pm Sunday, killing two people and burning three shops. One person was hurt and taken to a hospital in Pali, while three others were feared trapped in accommodation above the shop, with their phones switched off. Preliminary reports say sparks from firecrackers burst on the road reached the shop in the market, spreading panic. Fire tenders came from Bali, Sanderao and Rawla, and crews kept fighting the flames until at least 2.30 am; two scooters, a motorcycle and a bicycle were destroyed, along with a nearby battery shop and a cutlery shop.

In outer Delhi's Narela, a 10-year-old boy died on the spot when a rocket firecracker struck him in the stomach as he set off crackers. His family protested at the hospital, police took custody of the body for post-mortem and launched an investigation.

Pune recorded 63 fire incidents on Laxmi Pujan, all blamed on firecrackers, with the fire brigade dousing each one. No injuries or deaths were reported there, but heavy cracker bursting left a haze hanging over the city skyline. In Nagpur, a blaze that began in a shed and spread to the lower floor of the Sai Dynamics TVS showroom in Savarkar Nagar destroyed several two-wheelers. A government quarter in Gangtok's Forest Colony, Sikkim, also caught fire Sunday night, with damage details still awaited.

In Jammu, a fire that started in a shop around 9.15 pm swept the historic Nehru Market in the Warehouse area, gutting at least a dozen shops as edible oil fuelled the spread. Divisional Commissioner Jammu Vikas Kundal said the blaze was largely under control and no casualties were reported; a separate fire hit the District Police Lines in Kathua, and causes of both were still unclear.

Thane's 17-storey Carlyle building in the Raheja Garden complex, Wagle Estate, caught fire around 8.30 pm Sunday, sending rescue teams in to evacuate residents. Yasin Tadvi, chief of the Regional Disaster Management Cell, said no injuries had been reported as crews worked to put out the flames. In Uttar Pradesh's Banda, a scrap shop on Baberu Road burned late Sunday, with five fire tenders deployed; the owner alleged someone threw firecrackers inside and put his losses at Rs 20-25 lakh. Mumbai crews handled a Level-I call at Haji Kasam Chawl in Dongri at 10.11 pm, where residents reported explosion-like sounds that could not be independently confirmed, plus an earlier Dadar West fire at Kamgar Stadium that was out in 17 minutes; a high-rise fire in Lokhandwala, Andheri West, on Saturday night killed one person.