Vetlapalem (Andhra Pradesh), February 28 The cracker unit explosion in the Kakinada district on Saturday, which claimed 21 lives and critically injured several others, came less than six months after the Rayavaram explosion in the Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, located less than 30 km away.
Similar to the Vetlapalem explosion, seven people were killed in Rayavaram on October 8, 2025, in the run-up to the festival of lights, Diwali, and familiar scenes played out.
Between 2.30 and 3 pm earlier in the day, a large explosion ripped through Surya Sri Fireworks on Canal Road, Vetlapalem, Samarlakota mandal, blowing up the entire facility and hurling several bodies into the nearby paddy fields surrounding the cracker unit.
"They were thrown into nearby fields," a police official told
