Death toll rises to 39 after blast at pharmaceutical factory in southern India

Published on 01/07/2025 - 12:46 GMT+2

The decease toll from nan monolithic detonation and occurrence astatine a pharmaceutical mill successful confederate India connected Monday has risen to astatine slightest 39, officials person said.

The incident astatine Sigachi Industries' chemic mill successful nan confederate authorities of Telangana besides injured 34 people, according to authorities.

The debris of nan gutted mill was still being removed to find retired if immoderate much workers were trapped, nan state's occurrence services head GV Narayana Rao said connected Tuesday.

“The full building of nan mill has collapsed. Fire has been doused, and we dream to decorativeness removing nan debris successful nan adjacent fewer hours," Rao said early connected Tuesday morning.

Sigachi Industries did not disclose what led to nan detonation and fire, but said nan plant's halfway manufacturing infrastructure was damaged and installation operations would beryllium halted for 90 days. The works produces microcrystalline cellulose, a chemic compound commonly utilized successful making drugs.

Telangana's Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha said 108 workers were wrong nan mill erstwhile it exploded.

"As bodies were severely burnt and mutilated, a typical aesculapian squad has been deployed to behaviour DNA tests", said Narasimha, adding that nan authorities government has group up a sheet to analyse nan origin of nan incident.

In a disclosure to nan Bombay Stock Exchange connected Monday, nan institution called nan incident "unfortunate" and announced that a thorough tract appraisal was underway.

On Monday, nan agency of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced connected X an ex gratia costs of 200,000 rupees (€1,979) for nan adjacent of kin of each deceased personification and 50,000 rupees (€495) each for those injured.

India is location to respective of nan world’s apical pharmaceutical companies, playing a pivotal domiciled successful nan world proviso of generic medicines and vaccines. The nation's robust manufacturing and cost-effective accumulation person made it a hub for pharma giants.

However, business accidents, peculiarly involving chemic reactors, are acold from uncommon successful specified factories, which person led to calls for authorities to instrumentality stringent information protocols and regulatory oversight successful a assemblage captious to nationalist health.