At least 17 killed in blast at pharma factory in India
A blast in an Indian pharmaceutical factory has killed at least 17 people with chemicals burning the skin off several of the 34 injured, police said Thursday. The Hindu newspaper reported that the force of the blast had been so strong, it left severed body parts scattered around the site.
The incident took place during lunchtime at the factory, which began operating in 2019, said District Collector Vijaya Krishnan. Some 380 employees work two shifts at the plant. Many workers escaped unhurt because they were on lunch break.
The company manufactures intermediate chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients, local media reports said.
Secretary Yuvaraj said the initial investigation showed “there was some vapour leak that led to chemical reactions, which caused the explosion”.
The state government has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Officials said they were scanning security camera footage and questioning the injured to decide if human error was responsible for the blast.
“The workers who died or were injured do the most crucial and dangerous jobs,” L Srinivas Rao, a local politician, told The Indian Express newspaper.
An officer from Atchutapuram police station in Anakapalli told the newspaper that those injured or killed suffered extensive chemical burns, their “skin peeling off” as a result of the blast.
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon at a pharmaceutical unit in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalli district. District police superintendent M. Deepika said “rescue operations are over” and all were accounted for, with a final toll of “17 dead and 34 injured”.
She added that investigators believe the blast was caused by a “gas leak… which eventually hit an electrical panel”. Local police official M. Buchaiah told the Indian Express daily that those caught in the blast suffered horrific chemical burns.
“It was horrible, heart-breaking,” he told the paper, describing the pain people suffered as those who survived were carried to ambulances. “They were screaming before they lost consciousness”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he was “pained by the loss of lives”, in a post on social media, announcing compensation of $2,380 to the families of those killed.
The plant is in the state’s special economic zone at Atchutapuram village, which was established in 2009 with more than 200 companies.
Last year, two people were killed and five others injured in a similar accident at another pharma factory in Anakapalli.
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