15 Killed, Over 35 Injured in Sigachi Pharma Blast

Hyderabad: Fifteen persons died and more than 35 were injured when a reactor exploded at Sigachi Industries, a pharmaceuticals manufacturer, located at Pashamylaram's industrial park in Patancheru on the city outskirts on Monday. The blast brought down the three-storey building of the building, in one of the worst industrial disasters here.

Twelve of the injured are on ventilator support. The toll is expected to rise as about 65 workers in the three-storey at the time of the blast, and many were feared trapped under the debris of the collapsed building.

The plant incharge was among the dead in the blast, which could be heard about five km away. About 140 people were at the plant at the time of the accident, the department of industries said.

Some of the bodies of the victims need to undergo DNA profiling to establish their identity, an official said. Most of the workers were said to be guest workers from Bihar, Odisha and other states.

Debris of the unit was being removed to find out if more workers were trapped. The Sangareddy Government Hospital has reported receiving 13 bodies, and more were expected. The police are yet to identify the victims given the intensity of the blast.

The mishap occurred at 9.37 am. “There was a loud sound and explosion in the adjacent factory and the building collapsed immediately. After informing my bosses, I called police and fire service,” said the visibly shaken Kistaiah, watchman of adjacent company told Deccan Chronicle.

The explosion was so powerful that some of the workers were thrown some distance away from the site, witnesses said. Family members of the victims rushed to the campus for any news on their loved ones.

The government has appointed a five-member committee headed by Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao to probe the blast.

Y. Nagi Reddy, Director General of the Telangana Disaster Response and Fire Services, said it was suspected that the blast occurred in the drying unit of the plant. Inspector-general of police (Multizone) V. Satyanarayana told reporters that it was a case of reactor explosion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed their grief over the incident. The Prime Minister announced ex gratia of Rs.2 lakh to be given to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs,50,000 to injured persons. In his post on social media, the Prime Minister said that he was anguished by the loss of lives.

The Chief Minister directed the district collector, the superintendent of police and officials of related departments to take measures in providing best medical assistance. He spoke with health minister Damodar Rajnarsimha who rushed to the spot along with his colleague G. Vivek Venkatsamy upon receiving news of the accident, and monitored the relief operations. Revanth Reddy will visit the accident site and call on injured on Tuesday.

The cause of the mishap would be known after examination of the site by technical experts, said minister Rajnarsimha.

About 10 fire tenders were deployed to douse the fire. They were joined by teams from the NDRF and SDRF besides HYDRAA personnel. Sangareddy superintendent of police (SP) Paritosh Pankaj said police and ambulance personnel shifted the injured to hospitals.

Sigachi Industries is one of the world’s largest manufacturer of a pharma ingredient called microcrystalline cellulose. Company managing director and CEO Amit Raj Sinha inquired about the incident. The management also collected the details of working employees' details after their family members rushed the company in search of the safety of the workers.. 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.