‘Identified the body of my wife by her ring’; Harrowing experience for kin of those killed in Thane chemical unit blast

Few hours later, Khanvilkar’s family friend Amit Mhabdi received a call from a doctor who told him to check at the two hospitals where the bodies of the vicitms were taken. The doctor also told that four bodies including those of two women have been taken to Shashtri Nagar hospital in Dombivli (West).

Mhabdi reached the hospital with friends and found that the bodies of two women were charred beyond recognition. He then informed Khanvilkar to visit the hospital and check.

“I visited the hospital and identified Riddhi from her gold ring,” said a deeply-disturbed Khanvilkar.

“As we have a 12-year-old child, Riddhi never wanted to work too far from home. She joined this (Amudan) company just three months ago in the accounts section, and this unfortunate incident shattered our lives,” said a grieving Khanvilkar. Their son was at her uncle’s place on vacation, and was yet to be informed about the incident.

Riddhi’s colleague Rohini Kadam, 26, also died in the incident. She was living with her elder brother and parents in the Azde Gaon area of Dombivli (East).

Her brother Rohit Kadam, who was in Mumbai for work, along with his friend, neighbours, and relatives, was trying to locate Rohini in hospitals.

“After much effort, we finally got to know that Rohini had died in the incident and her body was taken to Shashtri Nagar hospital,” said Pratik Khaire, a close friend of Rohit.

An aggrieved and irked Rohit, who lost his sister, said, “I don’t want to talk anything about who is responsible for the incident or the administration.”

A police constable posted at the panchnama room of the Shashtri Nagar hospital said that the bodies were dismembered as they were brought to the hospital, leaving the family members inconsolable.

‘My brother is missing’

While at least eight bodies were recovered from the accident site and 42 injured were sent to nearby hospitals, a few others were missing. Rakesh Rajput, who worked at Saptavarna Colorants Pvt Ltd, a fabric dye manufacturing company, was missing even after eight hours of rescue operation.

A tearful Vivek Kumar Rajput, the younger brother of Rakesh, was looking for him at the accident site with a photo of his brother on his mobile phone. The siblings are originally from Uttarakhand Pradesh’s Kannauj village. The company where Rakesh used to work was next to Amugan company where the blast took place.

“My brother has been working in the company for 10-12 years. He was living in Sonarpada of Dombivli (East) with his wife, five daughters and a son. The fire brigade men told me that the cooling operation is going on and my brother’s whereabouts will be known soon,” Vivek said.