Pashamylaram: Many victims of the chemical factory blast in Telangana were migrant workers from Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, reports claimed. At the time of the blast, around 108 workers were reportedly inside the facility. According to various media reports, the toll is around 40 so far, while rescue operations are still underway.
“There was a loud sound and I saw my colleagues flying into the air… some fell into nearby bushes, others landed far away,” an employee at the Sigachi Industries plant told reporters as he stood outside Patancheru Area Hospital, where many of the injured were being treated. The factory worker was among the few who survived the catastrophic explosion that tore through the microcrystalline cellulose unit in Telangana’s Pashamylaram industrial estate on Monday morning. The force of the blast, he said, was enough to bring down the roof and hurl men across the compound, some as far as 100 metres away.
“Everything went dark and I couldn’t breathe. Somehow, I ran out through the smoke. When I turned back, the entire building was on fire,” he told Hindustan Times.
What began as a typical Monday morning shift ended in the worst industrial accident in the area’s recent history. As of Tuesday, the official death toll has risen to 42, according to hospital and district administration authorities cited in The Hindu. Most of the bodies were so badly charred that DNA testing had to be initiated overnight for identification. According to reports, DNA samples from about 20 of the deceased had been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory. Once the DNA matches are confirmed with their relatives, the bodies will be handed over.
How did the blast occur?
The explosion occurred at around 9:30 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. Many families arrived at the site in desperation, searching for loved ones, only to be met with silence or grim confirmation.
₹1 crore to families of the workers who died
The state 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 ₹2 lakh each. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy instructed officials to provide compensation of ₹1 crore to families of the workers who died in the blast. Directions were issued to give ₹10 lakh to those several injured.
