Ammonia cylinder blast in Rajpura factory kills 3

Aman Sood 

Tribune News Service

Rajpura, February 20

Three persons were killed and 11 injured after an ammonia gas cylinder exploded at Himalaya Fresh Protein Factory on the Ghanaur-Shambhu road in Sandharsi village this morning. Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has announced a magisterial probe into the incident.

Those killed were identified as Surinder Kumar (42) of Sogalpur village and Charanjit Singh (22) and Gurjinder Singh (19) of Baghora village — all of them factory workers. The injured have been admitted to Government Rajindra Hospital — six of them in the ICU. All injured were also factory workers. They were sleeping in the unit when the blast occurred.

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As a precautionary measure, residents of nearby villages were evacuated after many of them complained of uneasiness in breathing. 

The CM has directed the civil and police administration to extend all assistance to the victims and support the joint team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and chemical experts from the National Fertilisers Limited (NFL).

The blast occurred in the factory wing dealing with frozen peas and potatoes around 1.30 am. 

“The pungent smell of ammonia is still emanating from the factory unit,” villagers said. 

Patiala Deputy Commissioner Kumar Amit said, “We have ordered a probe by an SDM-level officer, who would submit the report in a week. We will then see if the factory owner had obtained all requisite permissions to store gas cylinders and whether all norms and safety regulations were being followed.”

“Capt Amarinder has also ordered the Patiala Deputy Commissioner to personally oversee the rescue and relief operations,” said a statement from the CM office.

The CM has announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed and free treatment to the injured.

The police have registered an FIR at the Shambhu police station under Sections 304, 336 and 280 of the IPC against the directors of the factory unit. 

Probe ordered

• The explosion occurred at a food-processing unit (Himalaya Fresh Protein Factory) on the Shambhu-Ghanaur road on Tuesday
• Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, besides announcing an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased