T’gana pharma plant explosion ‘13 people killed as many as 34 injured’

 

 

AT LEAST 13 people died and 34 persons were injured on Monday in a reactor explosion at the Sigachi Industries’ pharma plant in Telangana’s Sangareddy district, Health Minister Damodara Raja Narasimha said. About 90 people were working in the plant when the reactor exploded, reportedly due to a suspected chemical reaction, which also triggered a fire, the Minister told reporters. The explosion was so powerful that some of the workers were thrown nearly 100 metres away, eyewitnesses said. The cause of the mishap would be known after examination by the technical experts, Narasimha, who visited the accident site along with State Labour Minister G Vivek Venkatswamy, told reporters.

 

Venkatswamy said 12 of the 34 injured people were critical and put on ventilator support in the hospitals. The respiratory system of these victims is under stress due to the burn injuries, he said. The Government is hopeful that the remaining 22 people will recover soon, he added. Expressing grief over the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the incident. He wished an early recovery to the injured. In a post on ‘X’, he announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

 

The company said it deeply mourns the loss of lives and extends heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased. Asserting that the unit was fully insured, the firm assured all possible support to those affected. Sigachi Industries also said production at its Hyderabad plant would be paused for around 90 days to restore affected equipment and structures. In addition to the human impact, the incident also caused damage to certain ancillary equipment and civil structures within the facility, it said in a regulatory filing. He said efforts were also on to search and rescue those trapped in the collapsed three-storey building. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed anguish over the incident and directed officials to take all steps to save the trapped workers and provide them advanced medical care, an official release said. Meanwhile, the State Government has also appointed a five-member committee headed by Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao to monitor the ongoing rescue efforts in the blast incident.

 

The panel will also probe the incident. Venkatswamy said the person in charge of the factory also lost his life in the accident, and “there is nobody from the factory side to give us really what happened.” He said a good ex gratia amount would be ensured to the kin of the deceased, and the government would also consider interim help to the affected families. He said DNA tests were being conducted in hospitals to identify some of the deceased. About ten firefighting engines were pressed into service, he said, adding the personnel of NDRF and SDRF were also engaged in the rescue operation.