3 killed in chemical factory fire in Maharashtra, blast heard 8 kms away

Mumbai: Three people were killed and 13 others were injured after a massive fire broke out at a chemical factory in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area in Tarapur town of Palghar district late on Thursday night.

Palghar District Collector Prashant Narnaware, who reached the accident site in the early hours of Friday, told news agency ANI that attempts to douse fire and rescue people was underway.

"Around 11:30 pm, we came to know about the incident. Police machinery, revenue machinery and health machinery geared together and they contributed their best to extinguish the fire. Our work of rescue is still continuing," Narnaware said and added that they have been able to control the fire to some extent.

The blaze started after a massive explosion inside a boiler at a company named Ramedeo chemicals.

According to news agency PTI, Manjunath Singe, Superintendent of Police, said the fire has spread to another companies adjacent to the company and details about casualty is yet to be ascertained.

There are chemical drums inside these companies, due to which the fire is spreading, he added.

An official said that the impact of the boiler blast was felt in the villages around 8 kilometres vicinity.

(Photo: Twitter | ANI)

Tarapur Atomic Power Station, which is also situated on Boisar-Tarapur Road is around 20 kilometres away from the spot, he added. Fire tenders were rushed to the spot and fire fighting operation is on, another official said.