‘No one has told us if he’s alive or dead’: Anxious wait for families of those missing since Telangana factory blast
While 11 people have been declared missing, several people told The Indian Express that they are still oscillating between hope and despair because 25 bodies are yet to be identified
Family members of one of the dead outside Patancheru government hospital in Sangareddy district, Tuesday (PTI)
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AS THE death toll in the explosion at the Sigachi pharma factory in Telangana mounted to 36 on Tuesday, family members and relatives of those reported missing since the blast Monday spent anxious hours, hoping for some news about their loved ones.
Among them is 25-year-old Sajana, a relative of Ramesh who has been missing since the explosion. “No one is able to tell us if he is alive or dead. We have been waiting for hours to get some news,” she told The Indian Express. Ramesh had been working at the factory for the past five years.
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At the government hospital in Sangareddy, a family member of another missing worker, Akhilesh Kumar, said, “It has been only three months since he joined work. He moved to this factory because they were paying him well. We are eagerly waiting for some news.”
While the death toll was 14 Monday night, more bodies were recovered from the rubble Tuesday as rescue operations progressed. Huge portions of the three-storey factory were reduced to debris because of the explosion.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who visited the site Tuesday morning, announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore to be paid jointly by Sigachi and the state government to family members of each of those dead. A compensation of Rs 10 lakh will be given to those critically injured and Rs 5 lakh to those who suffered partial burns. According to rescue teams, several people suffered up to 50% burn injuries.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Fire Service Department personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after a reactor blast took place triggering a massive fire at Sigachi Pharma Company, leaving 12 killed and several others injured, in Sangareddy on Monday. (ANI Video Grab)
The Chief Minister, who met family members of the dead, said that inspections will be held at various industrial units to check whether they have complied with safety standards. “A report will be submitted and action will be taken against those responsible for this mishap,” Reddy said.
According to officials of the labour department, the factory where the explosion took place was last inspected in December 2024. “At the time of inspection, we found no fault at the facility. They had fulfilled all the parameters,” said B Raja Gopal Rao, Director, Factories. What appears to have caused the explosion is pressure building up inside the spray dyer which was being operated in the ground floor of the factory.
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Sigachi Chemicals manufactures MCC or Microcrystalline Cellulose from wood pulp. MCC is used in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical capsules.
A case has been registered by Telangana police against the company management under sections for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
Emergency services personnel at the site after an explosion at a pharma plant, at Pashamylaram, in Sangareddy district, Telangana. (PTI)
At the factory, earthmovers were used to remove debris, apart from shovels used by State Disaster Response Force rescuers. Not far from the site, at a government facility in Patancheru, a crowd of relatives searched for those missing.
While 11 people have been declared missing, several people told The Indian Express that they are still oscillating between hope and despair because 25 bodies are yet to be identified. “We have given our blood for testing. We don’t know when the results will come in,” said Rama, a relative of Chotelal who is among those missing.
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The district administration has collected blood samples from several people to identify the victims by DNA match.
Latha, wife of another missing person – Bheemrao – said: “We have been told that he is only injured and in ICU. But no one has let us inside the hospital and no one has identified him.” The couple were blessed with a baby recently.
Relatives of some of those who worked at the factory have also started arriving from other states, including Bihar and Jharkhand.
At the time of the explosion, 143 people were at the site, according to officials. Of them, 60 people have been marked as safe. As many as 34 were injured. They are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the vicinity.
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At Dhurva Hospital in Patancheru, Ramesh, a family member of Venkatesh who is among those hospitalised, said, “The doctors have told us that many have inhaled poisonous fumes from the accident site. It will take days for recuperation.”
State government officials said they have arranged for the treatment of all the injured persons, irrespective of the costs, as per the instruction of the Chief Minister.
Nikhila Henry is an Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Hyderabad. With a career spanning 17 years, she has established herself as an authoritative voice on South Indian affairs, specialising in the complex intersections of politics, education, and social justice.
Experience & Career: Nikhila commenced her journalism career in 2007 as an education correspondent for The Times of India in Hyderabad,where she gained recognition for her coverage of student politics. Her professional trajectory includes a four-year tenure at The Hindu, where she focused on minority affairs and social welfare. In 2019, she took on a leadership role as the South Bureau Chief for The Quint, where she directed regional coverage across all five South Indian states. Her expansive career also includes a tenure at the BBC in New Delhi and contributions to prestigious international outlets such as The Sunday Times (London) and HuffPost India.
Expertise & Focus Areas
Nikhila’s reportage is marked by a deep-seated understanding of grassroots movements and institutional policy. Her core focus areas include:
Regional Politics: Comprehensive analysis of the socio-political dynamics across South India.
Education & Student Movements: Chronicling the evolution of Indian academics and the rise of youth activism.
Minority Affairs: Rigorous reporting on the welfare, rights, and challenges facing marginalized communities.
National Beat: Elevating regional stories to national prominence through investigative and on-ground reporting.
Authoritativeness & Trust
A respected figure in Indian media, Nikhila is not only a seasoned reporter but also an accomplished author and editor. She authored the critically acclaimed book The Ferment: Youth Unrest in India and edited Caste is Not a Rumour, a collection of writings by Rohith Vemula. Her dual background in daily news reporting and long-form authorship allows her to provide readers with a nuanced, historically-informed perspective on contemporary Indian society.
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