Karimnagar: Two persons died on the spot and another sustained severe injuries in an explosion caused by outdated chemicals that are used to prepare decorative idols, on Sunday morning. The condition of the injured is critical.
Karimnagar III town in-charge inspector V. Madhavi said that the outdated cobalt exploded when one Patnam Srinivas Kumar was trying to dilute it with water. at the Housing Board Colony, on the outskirts of the city.
This was the method prescribed by the manufacturer to dispose of the cobalt chemical. Srinivas Kumar sustained severe injuries.
Two persons, Nagarjuna Kumar and Ramakrishna Reddy, who were watching the chemical reaction, died in the incident.
Source said the proportion of water and chemical was probably not right and the cobalt exploded. Samples of the chemical were collected and would be sent to forensic science lab in Hyderabad for analyses, she added.
Srinivas Kumar was shifted to the Government Civil Hospital where his condition is stated to be serious. Nagarjuna and his brother Srinivas Kumar originally hailed from Kurnool. Details of Ramarkrishna Reddy are yet to be established. All of them make decorative idols using plaster of Paris, some chemicals and stone powder.
