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, and that two more shoppers were hospitalised with severe burns.
Hindus traditionally let off firecrackers to celebrate the annual religious festival of Diwali.
Hospitals in New Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay said they were bracing themselves for hundreds of burn victims from Wednesday evening, when the firecrackers will be put to use.
A government-backed campaign against firecrackers is largely ignored every year during Diwali – AFP
