Four days have elapsed since the severe explosion at a chemical factory of Sigachi Industries in the Pashamylaram Industrial Area in Telangana’s Sangareddy district, and five workers from Odisha are still missing.
This has prompted the missing workers’ relatives to reach the spot for DNA matching with unidentified bodies, officials said on Thursday.
So far, 38 people, 4 workers from the eastern state, have been killed and several others injured in the powerful blast at the pharmaceutical manufacturing unit of Sigachi Industries on June 30. According to police, the explosion occurred around 9:30 am.
While relatives of four missing persons have given DNA samples for matching, kin of the fifth person will reach the southern state during the day.
Among the missing four workers, two are from Nabarangpur district, two from Ganjam and one from Cuttack. The bodies of the deceased meanwhile have also reached their native places in Odisha.
Pritish Panda, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Directorate of Odisha Parivaar, said, “The local administration informed us that 143 people were working in the factory when the blast took place. Some people from Odisha were working in different sections. Of them, four were killed, four injured, among whom one is serious, and five others are still missing.”
The deceased workers from Odisha have been identified as R Jaganmohan from Chatrapur area in Ganjam district, Lagnajit Duari from Tigiria area in Cuttack district, Manoj Rout from Simulia in Balasore district and Dolagovind Sahu from Dharmasala in Jajpur district, informed Pritish Panda, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) from Directorate of Odisha Parivaar, he said.
The injured people have been identified as Samir Padhi of Ganjam district, Chandan Kumar Nayak of Bhadrak, Nilambar Bhadra of Nabarangpur and Chitrasen Batra. Among the injured people, Samir Padhi is in serious condition with 35 per cent burn injuries and he is in the ICU, the officer said.
Pand, along with another officer, have been rushed to Sangareddy district on the instruction of the Odisha government to extend necessary support to the people from the state.
He said the bodies of people from Odisha have been sent to their native places in ambulances.
Earlier on Wednesday, the body of Jaganmohan (56) reached his residence in Chhatrapur area of Ganjam district.
Locals, relatives and Chhatrapur MLA Krushna Chandra Nayak and officials of the Labour Department reached his home and expressed condolences to the family members.
His wife Vijayalaxmi (50) and two sons, who have been living in Hyderabad for over two decades, also accompanied the body in the ambulance. They performed the last rites of the deceased as per tradition.
Jaganmohan was working in the accounts section in the Sigachi Industries factory of for over two decades. He was inside the plant for an inspection when the explosion took place, said R Sai Yashwanth, elder son of the deceased.
“We immediately rushed to the plant but saw only his charred body,” he said.
On Tuesday, the body was sent from Hyderabad and it reached Odisha early on Wednesday. The Telangana government offered Rs 1 lakh as assistance to perform the last rites, he said.
Samir Padhy (24), another victim from Ganjam district, was battling for his life in a hospital in Hyderabad. A resident of Baharapur, Samir was working as a machine operator in the factory for the last seven years.
The explosion occurred in the plant just 10 minutes after he entered the plant, said Papu Kumar Choudhuary, Samir’s brother-in-law, who was working in the same factory.
“We both entered the plant just 10 to 15 minutes before the blast. I came out of the plant when the first explosion occurred at a distance and survived,” said Choudhury (31) of Aska area. He was working in the paper-cutting section of the factory.
“Within a few minutes, the entire area became dark with smoke and several of them could not come out,” he said.
Papu said Lagnajit Duari (20) of Tigiria in Cuttack district along with a man from Bihar were working in his section before the blast. They could not come out from the spot and were charred to death.
Sigachi Industries management booked for culpable homicide
Meanwhile, the Telangana Police have filed a case of culpable homicide against the management of Sigachi Industries in connection with the blast in the firm’s factory in the Sangareddy district
The incident has triggered a criminal investigation following allegations of gross negligence by the company.
The police case was registered after Rajanala Sai Yashwanth, the son of one of the victims, submitted a formal complaint accusing the company of ignoring repeated warnings about unsafe and outdated machinery.
Yashwanth’s father Rajanala Venkat Jagan Mohan (55) was working in the factory’s quality control division for about the last 20 years.
“My father and others had raised concerns multiple times about the ageing equipment. They warned the management that continued use of the outdated machinery could result in disaster — but no one listened,” said Yashwanth, as quoted by ToI.
“When I reached the govt hospital morgue in Patancheru, I found my father’s body among the victims,” he added recalling the moment he learned of the explosion.
Four teams from the Telangana Forensic Science Laboratory (TGFSL) have inspected the blast site and are expected to submit their findings soon.
“This was not an accident — it was waiting to happen,” Yashwanth claimed in his complaint, alleging that the company prioritised cost-cutting over employee safety.
BDL Bhanur police, taking cognisance of the complaint, have registered a case under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 117 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the firm’s management.
A senior police official said that investigations are actively progressing, TOI reported.
“We are recording statements of employees and have requested information from the factory inspectorate and fire department. Once we have conclusive evidence, arrests will follow,” the police official added.
