Twelve people were killed and five seriously injured in a blaze at an illegal fireworks factory

in India, police said yesterday.

But local villagers said the death toll was higher and that several bodies still lay in a nearby pond.

The fire broke out on Wednesday night near Pingla, West Bengal state, 85 miles south-west of the state capital Kolkata.

Police officer Bharati Ghosh said that the owner of the building had been arrested for allowing the factory to be run on his premises without a proper licence.

Among the dead were the owner of the fireworks business and his wife.

Fireworks are commonly let off at weddings and religious ceremonies in India, but accidents are common in the factories where they are made.

Earlier this week, at least nine people were killed in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Maharashtra state in the west of the country.