Two killed, 25 injured in boiler blast at Bharuch pharma plant; another person feared dead

The incident occurred in the boiler of a solvent plant of Vishal Pharma in Saykha GIDC, Vagra taluka.

Police and fire officials rushed to the site to bring the blaze under control. “The plant of the company (Vishal Pharma) is of small capacity for about 20 workers. However, the blast was so intense that the entire building collapsed and adjoining companies also suffered damage due to smaller leakages and fire. We have recovered two bodies from the plant while search is on for a third person, whose family has reported him to be missing. We are yet to find him. Out of the 25 injured persons, two belonged to the same company while the rest were workers in the adjoining plants,” Bharuch District Collector Gaurang Makwana said.

Makwana said on Wednesday evening that 23 of the 25 injured had been discharged from the hospitals.

“We are removing the scrap and looking for more bodies that could be trapped in the debris. We will have clarity on the issue when the debris is cleared. The cause of the blast is not yet known,” he said.

Bharuch District Superintendent of Police Akshay Raj said police and forensic teams have been at the site since morning. “The temperature due to the blast was so high that the police and rescue teams could not go inside until the fire was cooled down. Now that the fire has been put out, a search operation has been underway since morning. The forensic teams are also collecting evidence,” he said.

Sarpanch of Saykha village, Jaiveersinh, has demanded a probe into the operations of Vishal Pharma, alleging that the company was functioning without necessary permits from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB). “We know that there was no permit given to this company. The administration has turned a blind eye to this. There was a fire in one of the prominent paints companies in Saykha GIDC just a few months ago but fire tenders could not reach in time due to narrow roads, and the rescue operations took too long. Even in this case, the cluster is so haphazard that in case of a fire or emergency, the fire tenders cannot even reach the companies in time. It is a ticking bomb for villagers as many companies are violating permits or have none,” he claimed. “The administration must look into this as well as illegal construction within these clusters,” he demanded.

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