Leather industry falsely blamed after festival tragedy in India
21/03/2012
The tragedy happened in the Mumbai suburb of Dharavi during the Holi festival at the start of March. Holi is the Hindu Festival of Colours and children especially mark the date by applying bright colours to their faces and bodies. Local children found discarded bags of dye and distributed the colours across the Dharavi community. The dyes were toxic and as a result, one 13-year-old boy died and around 200 other people were taken to a nearby hospital.
Initially, local media speculated that the children may have come upon the dye at a disused tannery. However, they have now reported that the police have arrested five people from nearby Mankhurd in connection with the incident.
Police sources have explained that the five men ran an illegal business buying dye from the scrap wholesale market, refining it inadequately and selling it to paint companies. The dyes the Dharavi children found were remnants that the five are accused of abandoning.
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