Mumbai: At least five people lost their lives and over 119 others were injured as a major blast destroyed a chemical factory within MIDC area of Dombivali’s industrial estate on Thursday.
The impact of the blast that occurred at about 11.30 am in Probace Enterprises gutted five other factories around the set-up and grievously injured about 25 workers from the nearby industries.
It also rocked the residential buildings within the radius of 1.5 kilometres, shattering windowpanes and melting metal grills of the windows, doors, and shops, leading to multiple injuries.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the accident site and also the hospital where some of the injured are admitted. The state government will bear all the expenses for their medical treatment, he said, adding that an in-depth inquiry will be conducted into the incident. The fire brigade sent over a dozen fire engines to the spot immediately and it took them two hours to douse the fire.
Cooling and rescue operations continued all day, but yielded little results. Officers of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to the spot to clear the debris and they suspect more workers might still be trapped under the debris.
Meanwhile, Sharada Pawar, regional officer of land records, Thane confirmed that the blast radius is up to 720 square metres, within the Shivaji Udyog Nagar of MIDC phase-II, spread over 362 hectares.
The injured workers and residents of the vicinity were rushed to five hospitals in the nearby area, including Rukmini Bai Hospital in Kalyan, Shastri Nagar Hospital, AIIMS, ICON, Shivam, Neptune, and Fortis Hospitals in Dombivali. Over 60 people of of the 119 injured were released by 5 pm on Thursday, after primary medical aid was given to them.
