The two students identified as Suryakant Jena and Ranjan Das of Pathria village were admitted to the Nayagarh District Headquarters Hospital (DHH).
Sources said, the cracker kept inside a bag exploded when a student was trying to light up a LED bulb using a battery in the absence of teacher.
On the other hand, the tuition teacher said the battery itself exploded and there was no cracker in the bag.
"Suddenly I got information that two students sustained injuries when a battery kept in the bag exploded. We admitted them to the Khandapada hospital, from where the children were referred to the DHH," said teacher Trinath Sahu.
Three of the five injured are in critical condition and have been admitted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. Two of them have sustained around 70 per cent burn injuries.
The high intensity blast destroyed the house completely.
The injured identified as Gopabandhu and Ramesh were admitted to the Puri District Headquarters Hospital. The explosion took place when the two youths were making crackers in the evening following which the house caught fire.
Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and rescued the two in critical condition after dousing the flames. Meanwhile, police have begun investigation into the incident.
“The asbestos roof under which the crackers were being prepared has been severely gutted in the explosion. We suspect that the duo was engaged in illegal cracker manufacturing,” said ASI, Sadar police station Prafulla Kumar Sahu.
The injured siblings have been identified as 5-year-old Kabita Chhatria and 3-year-old Ganesh Chhatria, children of one Muniram Chhatria. Both the minors sustained severe burn injuries on face, legs and hands and were rushed to Tureikela Community Health Centre in a critical condition.
According to reports, some crackers were left unburst during a marriage procession in Muniram's neighbourhood yesterday. Later, while playing, the minor siblings picked those crackers which blasted all of a sudden leaving them injured.