Chennai, May 2 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Police on Thursday blamed the negligence of workers for the blast in a stone quarry in the state's Virudhunagar district, which left three workers lead.

Aviyoor police have filed the case under Sections 286 (negligent handling of explosives endangering human life) and 304 (2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of the Indian Explosives Act.

Police, in its First Information Report (FIR), said that the three workers were not using any safety gear and there was no supervision when the explosives were being handled. The FIR said that two vans carrying different explosive materials - one carrying electric detonators and another containing nitrate mixture -- were parked in close proximity, even though those handling the explosives knew that keeping these materials close to each other while loading and unloading could result in an accident.

Negligent handling had led to the fatal accident, it said.

Two out of the four partners who were running the stone quarry and the nearby explosive storage unit have been arrested in connection with the accident.

Superintendent of Police, K. Feroze Khan Abdullah said that both the stone quarry and the explosives storage unit had valid licenses till 2027.

The bodies of the three workers - A. Kandasamy, 49, S. Periyadurai, 27, and R. Gurusamy, 55, were handed over to the families after post-mortem at Virudhunagar Government Medical College hospital.