20201104 Gujarat: ‘Suspicious’ blast at chemical factory claims 12 lives
India Nov 04 2020 “Building” “Stores” “Warehouses”
Dead : dead more than 10 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured more than 10
Gujarat: ‘Suspicious’ blast at chemical factory claims 12 lives
Updated: 2020–11–04
Around 10 persons were working in the unit when the incident took place
AHMEDABAD: People in periphery of around 5km of area from Ganeshnagar heard the six blasts as explosion occurred in a chemical processing unit on Piplaj-Pirana road in the Narol area where 12 persons including five women were either charred to death, asphyxiated to death or died as they buried in debris of three partially collapsed industrial units.
The 11 persons who died were working in the three clothes packaging units in Nanu Bhai estate. Many of them were thrown due to high intensity of the blast in the adjacent unit named Sahil Enterprise where some suspicious chemical was stored and rest of them buried in the debris.
Officers of Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services, city police and even Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) could not get any clue about the chemical which caused such a high intensity blast.
Earlier, the fire officers said that the fire took place due to spark in clothes godown but later it was learnt that it occured due to high intensity blast. Locals in the area said that they heard six blasts which took place in a small shop measuring around 25 and 50 feet due to some chemical reactions.
The intensity of explosion was so powerful that structures of cement and concrete sprayed like shreds of papers in an area of 50 metres. Human organs and limb of a victim fell around 25 feet away from the place of blast.
A local Nizamuddin Mansuri said that he lives in Ganeshnagar slums where he had heard the loud explosion and felt tremors due to blast. After a while, he saw smoke in the sky and heard screams of people. When he along with other locals rushed, they found people died and injured in the heavy blast.
The state government swung into action after loss of human lives and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the victims’ families and set up an inquiry committee to probe into the incident.
“The incident took place at around 11.30 am on Wednesday where blasts took place in a small shop in Reva Kaka industrial estate. Its intensity was so powerful that it broke walls of three adjacent units where packaging of clothes was being done by around 50 workers out of whom 12 died and nine persons were rescued,” said Chief fire officer of AFES, MF Dastoor.
The operation to clear debris was on till late Wednesday night.
The injured persons were admitted to LG hospital in Maninagar where two are stated to be critical.
Web Source: The times of India