HYDERABAD, India (BN24) — A catastrophic explosion and fire tore through a pharmaceutical factory in southern India, killing at least 36 people and leaving dozens more injured, authorities said Tuesday, as emergency crews worked through the mangled wreckage to search for any remaining victims.
The blast erupted Monday inside the spray dryer unit of Sigachi Industries Limited in the Bonthapally industrial area, about 31 miles from Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana state. Fire services director G.V. Narayana Rao said the force of the explosion brought down the entire factory structure, trapping many workers.
“The whole structure of the factory has collapsed,” Rao told The Associated Press. “Fire has been doused, and we hope to finish removing the debris in the next few hours.”
Firefighters recovered the charred remains of 34 workers from the site. Two more employees who were pulled from the rubble died later in the hospital from severe burns. Nearly three dozen others were admitted to area hospitals with injuries ranging from fractures to critical burns.
Authorities said 108 people were inside the factory at the time of the explosion. The state’s health minister, Damodar Raja Narasimha, confirmed that many of the bodies were badly burned and mutilated, making identification difficult. A special medical team has been deployed to carry out DNA testing.
Witnesses reported hearing a deafening boom that could be felt miles away.
The cause of the disaster has not been disclosed. Sigachi Industries said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange that it was conducting a thorough investigation and that the factory, which produces microcrystalline cellulose used in making medicines, would remain shut for at least 90 days.
In the disclosure, the company called the incident “unfortunate” and said the core manufacturing infrastructure was heavily damaged. The affected plant accounts for more than a fourth of Sigachi’s annual production capacity.
Shares of Sigachi Industries plunged as much as 10% Monday and dropped another 8% in intra-day trading Tuesday amid investor concern over the disaster’s impact on operations.
Industrial accidents are a recurring hazard in India’s booming pharmaceutical sector, which supplies a major share of the world’s generic drugs and vaccines. Safety advocates have long warned that insufficient oversight and lax enforcement of regulations contribute to deadly incidents.
The state government has set up a special committee to investigate what triggered the blast and whether safety lapses played a role.
Sigachi Industries operates five manufacturing facilities across India and subsidiaries in the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
As emergency teams continued to sift through the collapsed building, officials said the focus remained on recovering any additional victims and ensuring the safety of other workers in the area.
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