Telangana pharma plant explosion: Death toll rises to 36, rescue ops continue

The death toll from the explosion at the Sigachi Industries' pharma plant in Pashamylaram has risen to 36, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said on Tuesday.

Reddy, accompanied by some of his cabinet colleagues, visited the accident site and said his government will engage with the management of Sigachi Industries Ltd to ensure that a compensation of Rs 1 crore is paid to the kin of those who died in the explosion.

He asserted that action will be taken against those responsible for the unfortunate incident. Later, the CM visited the injured at the hospital.

According to information provided by the officials, most of the deceased were from Odisha, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.

There were 143 people at the time of the blast out of which 56 are in touch with the officials. Search is on for the rest of the people.

Earlier, District Superintendent of Police Paritosh Pankaj told PTI that the toll rose to 35. He, however, did not provide further details.

“Several bodies have been found under the debris while removing it. As many as 31 bodies have been extricated from the debris while three died in hospital while undergoing treatment. The last leg of the rescue operation is still going on,” he said.

When contacted, a senior official of Pranaam Hospitals in Miyapur said they received 21 patients on Monday with burns and head injuries. However, two were declared brought dead and one succumbed this morning.

A senior official of Dhruva Hospitals in Patancheru told PTI that they received 11 patients on Monday out of which two were referred to superspeciality hospitals.

“Out of the nine patients, five are on ventilators. We have seven patients with burns ranging from 40-80 per cent burns and two are with 10 per cent burns,” the official said.

According to a revenue department official, the identity of nine bodies has only been established so far while the remaining need to undergo DNA profiling. Most of the deceased belonged to other states such Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar.

The fatal accident on Monday is suspected to have been caused by a chemical reaction.

Sigachi Industries Limited is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to pioneering advancements in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), Intermediates, Excipients, vitamin-mineral blends, and Operations and Management (O&M) services, according to the company's website.