Bhubaneswar: At least four workers from Odisha have died in the massive explosion at Sigachi Industries Limited’s pharmaceutical factory at Pashamylaram industrial area in Telangana’s Sangareddy district, which turned chunks of the building into rubble on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Lagnajit Duari of Tigiria in Cuttack, Rajmala Jagamohan of Chhatrapur in Ganjam district, Manoj Rout from Balasore, and Dolagobinda Sahu from Jajpur.
Four others from the state – Samir Padhi of Ganjam, Nilambar Bhadra of Nabarangpur, Chandan Kumar Nayak of Bhadrak and one Chitasen Batra, who native places remains unknown, – are currently undergoing treatment. While Padhi is in the ICU at Pranaam Hospital in Madinaguda with 35% burn injuries, Chandan and Nilambar are being treated in the general ward for minor injuries.
Officer on Special Duty at Odisha Paribar’s directorate Pritish Panda, who along with OPS Chandra Sekhar Hota are in Telangana to oversee rescue efforts for Odia workers, stated that many bodies are severely charred and require DNA identification. “We are yet to ascertain the exact number of the workers from the state because most of them had gone through private contractors. Since Chitrasen is unconscious, his native village is not known yet. While condition of Samir is serious, the other three are stable,” he added.
According to Telangana health minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, there were around 90 workers in the factory when the incident took place. The death toll had risen to 36, with 13 bodies identified as of Tuesday night.
How did the blast occur?
The explosion occurred at around 8.30 am inside the spray dryer unit of the pharmaceutical factory, when a sudden build-up of pressure caused a fire and subsequent collapse. Investigators believe that fine chemical particles may have ignited in the dryer’s air-handling system, though a definitive cause is still under examination by a high-level government inquiry panel.
Emergency teams from the National Disaster Response Force, fire services, and local authorities worked through the rubble and flames for hours, rescuing injured survivors and retrieving bodies from the debris.
Rs 1 crore to families of the workers who died
The Telangana government has ordered a full probe into the incident and temporarily shut down Sigachi Industries’ operations at the Pashamylaram plant for a minimum of 90 days. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who visited the site, promised that all safety lapses would be investigated and said compensation would be disbursed to victims’ families. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced Rs 2 lakh each. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy instructed officials to provide compensation of Rs 1 crore to families of the workers who died in the blast. Directions were issued to give Rs 10 lakh to those several injured.
