Maha pharma factory blaze-cum-blast – 8 bodies found, 3 missing (Ld)

Raigad (Maharashtra): Rescue teams have recovered eight bodies so far from among 11 persons reported missing in Friday's massive fire followed by multiple explosions at a pharmaceutical factory in Mahad MIDC, the police said here on Saturday.

The fire, the cause of which is not clear yet, quickly spread and led to several explosions in the factory premises of Blue Jet Healthcare Ltd., spread over more than eight acres of land in the Mahad MIDC complex.

A portion of the pharmaceutical factory, where around 20 workers were on duty on Friday morning, was engulfed in the blaze with thick dark smoke emanating from there.

Soon after the blaze at around 11 a.m., deafening blasts were heard in the vicinity as Raigad Police and local fire brigade teams, and later in the night the NDRF, rushed to the spot.

“We have recovered four bodies so far… Search is on for the other victims,” Raigad (Mahad) SDPO Shankar had told IANS from the disaster site on Saturday morning.

By the evening, another four bodies were recovered, taking the toll to eight, while three are still missing and seven others have been injured.

Other officials said that the conflagration has considerably weakened the factory structure, making it very risky for the NDRF, fire brigade and other teams to carry out the rescue mission.

Guardian Minister of Raigad, Uday Samant, visited the spot around midnight on Friday and instructed the officials to trace the victims and ensure proper treatment for the injured.

Preliminary reports suggest a suspected gas leak may have led to the blaze and the explosions, resulting in chaos as the flames started spreading to the other units within the factory premises, said an eyewitness.

Among the seven injured, the condition of two is stable while the others are reported to be critical at the Mahad rural hospital where they are being treated.