Berhampur (Odisha) Feb 13: A 52-year-old Odisha woman, who was believed to be dead in a fire incident at home and carried to a cremation ground, opened her eyes just before the pyre was to be set alight.

The incident occurred in Berhampur town in the southern district of Ganjam, the family said on Tuesday.

Family members of the woman who reside at Goods Shed Road admitted her to MKCG Medical College and Hospital, hours after returning home from the cremation ground on late Monday evening.

The woman belonging to a poor family suffered over 50 per cent burn injuries on February 1 in a fire mishap at home and was admitted to the same hospital.

However, when the hospital authorities referred her to another medical facility, her husband took her home due to paucity of money. Since then, she has been struggling with her life, family sources said.

"On Monday, she was not opening her eyes and it appeared she was not breathing. We thought she might have died. We then informed others in the locality," said Sibaram Palo, her husband.

Without consulting a doctor or trying to get a death certificate, he took the "body" to the nearby cremation ground at Bijipur in a hearse of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation.

"The funeral pyre was almost ready when she opened her eyes suddenly. We were initially shocked but when we started calling her, she responded. It is a miracle," said Palo's neighbour K Chiranjibi who accompanied the family members to the cremation ground.

The local corporator was informed and the same hearse was used to take her back home.

Later, she was admitted to the hospital again.

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Bhandara (PTI): The blast in the ordnance factory in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district on January 24, which claimed nine lives, was the result of alleged negligence in repairing machines and instruments, an official has said.

Four officials from the defence production unit, where trainees were allegedly made to work in highly sensitive areas, have been named in the FIR (first information report) registered on March 8 by the Jawahar Nagar police.

The police action is based on the findings of a probe committee formed after the accident that also left four injured, the official said on Thursday.

The FIR has named Devendra Meena, divisional officer of the safety section, Aadil Farooqui, junior works manager of the maintenance department, section administration officer Anandrao Faye, and Sanjay Dhapade from the general administration department. A few other unnamed officials have also been booked.

According to the police, an inquiry found that the “Extrumix machine and other instruments in the LTPE (Low Temperature Plastic Explosives) section of the RX department in building number 23” had deteriorated, but repairs were neglected, ultimately leading to the blast.

Also, trainees were assigned to work in highly sensitive sections of the unit.

The case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 106(1) concerning causing death by negligence and 125 (b) which pertains to “act endangering life or personal safety of others”.

Eight workers were killed on the spot and five others injured after a massive blast tore through the LTPE building number 23 in the HEX (High Energy Explosives) sub-division at the Ordnance Factory Bhandara located in Jawahar Nagar area of the district on the morning of January 24.

Another person succumbed to his injuries later, bringing the death toll to nine.