As many as four people were killed and four others were injured after a massive blast in the boiler of a chemical company in the Dombivli area of the Thane district in Maharashtra on Thursday afternoon. According to officials, the number of injured may go up as many workers and residents are still feared trapped in the factory in Dombivli's MIDC phase-2 region. The injured have been rushed to Neptune Hospital and AIMS hospital in MIDC, they added.
Officials of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) said a massive blast occurred in the Amudan Chemicals Pvt Ltd in Dombivli East at around 1.30 pm. The sound of the blast was heard in a radius of 2 km and the glass of nearby houses in the building broke after the explosion. A big smoke cloud was seen billowing above the chemical plant after the blast, a resident said.
A fire official from the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), who is currently aiding in the rescue operations, told The Indian Express, "Owing to the presence of chemicals within the premises of the company, there have been two more explosions within the company. According to the workers of the company, people inside the industry managed to escape in the nick of time after they heard the explosion. Our rescue operation is underway.”
Namdeo Chaudhari, Chief Fire Officer, KDMC, told The Indian Express, "The fire was reported around 1-1.30 pm. Since it was a chemical industry, there was an explosion and the fire spread. Our rescue operation is still underway and the KDMC has pressed nearly 10 fire engines to aid the operations."
In a message on X, loosely translated from Marathi, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “The incident of a boiler explosion at Amudan Chemical Company in Dombivli MIDC is tragic. Eight people were trapped in this incident initially and they have been taken out. Arrangements have been made to treat the injured and more ambulances have been kept ready. I have talked to the collector and they are also reaching the spot within 10 minutes. Teams of NDRF, TDRF, and fire brigade have been pressed in the rescue work I pray to God for the speedy recovery of the injured."
The cause behind the accident is still not known, and officials said they would look into it after the rescue operation is over,
In 2016, a similar explosion took place at a company in the Dombivli MIDC area, in which 12 people were killed.