4 die in Sangareddy pharma plant blast

Sangareddy: Four persons were killed, and 20 others suffered injuries following an explosion in a reactor at a pharmaceutical company in Sangareddy district on Wednesday, police said.

The blast, which occurred at around 5 pm, triggered a fire. "The reactor exploded at the SB Organics industry in Chandapur of Hatnoor mandal and people around it were thrown away due to its impact, police said.

The entire area was engulfed in thick cloud of smoke as fire-fighters fought to control the blaze for nearly three hours. It is said that over 50 workers were in the building at the time of explosion.

Upon receiving information about the explosion, police teams and fire tenders rushed to the spot. Police said over 20 people suffered severe burn injuries and were shifted to a hospital.

Sangareddy District Fire officials said they retrieved four bodies from the left side of the factory’s ground floor, which had a shed with machinery inside. “Fire officer received a call at around 5.15 pm, and four vehicles rushed to the spot and doused the flames. Preliminary inquiry revealed that the deceased included the plant head of the place and one higher management level employee,” said the official.

At least 14 persons have been shifted to MNR Hospital, while seven others have been rushed to the Government Hospital in Sangareddy.

Narsapur MLA P Sunitha Laxma Reddy visited the accident site and said the situation was quite scary as the place had dismembered and mutilated bodies of the workers. “The workers, who found leakage in the reactor first switched off the power supply and then stopped oil supply to it. While they were in the process of disconnecting power to the other reactors, there was a deafening sound followed by a blast in the reactor,” said Sunitha.

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