Six killed in Gujarat gas unit blast, kin stage dharna

Our Correspondent

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Vadodara, January 11

Six labourers were killed and several others injured in a blast in an industrial unit at Padra near Vadodara in central Gujarat this afternoon.

The explosion took place around 11 am at Aims Industries near Gavasad village in Padra tehsil. The plant is located off the Padra-Jambusar highway. The company manufactures oxygen gas cylinders used in hospitals.

The exact cause of the blast was still not known, but experts said it could have been caused by mixing of nitrogen and hydrogen gases leaking from some cylinders.

“Six workers were killed and as many were injured,” SP (Vadodara Rural) Sudhir Desai said. “Earlier we had learnt that eight people were dead, but now it is confirmed that the toll is six,” he added.

Desai said the police and Forensic Science Laboratory experts were jointly investigating the cause behind the blast and whether the company had installed necessary safety equipment. The police said the owner absconded after the blast. According to Desai, there were over 20 persons working in the company at the time of the blast. The roof of the shed was blown away in the blast.

The police said the initial rescue operations were carried out by residents of Govasad village as the company owner and the administrative staff working at the time of the incident had escaped instead of helping the labourers trapped inside the shed.

Meanwhile, family members of the deceased labourers have launched a sit-in refusing to accept the bodies and perform the last rites till adequate compensation for the deaths were paid.