Thane (Maharashtra) [India], May 24 : Three more bodies were recovered on Friday morning from the site of a boiler blast in Dombivli area of Thane district in Maharashtra, bringing the death toll to 10, said officials. The blast occurred at a chemical plant on May 23, causing a massive fire that continues to necessitate cooling operations.
Dattatray Shelke, Fire Officer at Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) confirmed the fatalities and reported an ongoing cooling operation.
“There is a paint company just beside the premises. There is still a little fire there. Cooling operations are underway and 3 more bodies were recovered this morning. No one has come forward yet claiming that any of their family members or acquaintances are trapped here. If someone comes forward, we will start the rescue operation. Initially, it was very difficult, but now the cooling operation is underway, so things are better,” Shelke said.
Sarang Kurve, Assistant Commandant of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said that the situation is under control.
“The fire is under control. The situation is now under control and we have recovered three bodies and the rescue operation is still going on. A total of 8 bodies have recovered till now 5 yesterday and 3 today. There was fire and hazardous chemicals were also there so we faced a lot of trouble during the rescue operation. We worked in hazardous conditions,” Kurve said.
The explosion, which occurred on Thursday at a plant in Phase Two of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area, was reportedly heard several kilometres away. Initial reports indicated that seven people were killed and 48 others injured.
Large pieces of the reactor of the Dombivali chemical factory fell 1 kilometre away and the lid of the reactor fell 200 meters away on a factory.
Meanwhile, Ambadas Danve, Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, criticized the lack of industrial safety measures in the area.
“There has been no Industrial Safety Department here. If you look at this area, such a factory should not have been here near the residential area and is the biggest crime…A technical person should have been here because a normal worker or labourer cannot handle a reactor. It is wrong to have such expectations from a normal labourer…The management of this factory is responsible for the blast. The Industrial Safety Department has been ignorant towards this. Under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray a meeting was held in this area,” Danve said.
“There are around 450 factories in this area and an order was given to move all the chemical factories from this area…This is not the first accident in this industrial area since 2016 this is the fifth or sixth such accident,” Danve added.
Earlier after the blast, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday ordered a high-level inquiry into the Dombivali boiler blast incident that claimed the lives of seven people. CM Shinde also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased while assuring that the government would take care of the treatment of the injured.
“A high-level enquiry will be conducted and an investigation will be carried out against the accused. No one will be spared. The kin of the deceased will be given Rs 5 lakh each by the state government. The administration will sponsor the treatment of the injured… The company will also compensate the employees,” CM Shinde told reporters.