Four workers were burnt alive when a pipe carrying hot chemical in the burst and fell on the tin-roofed shed where they were sleeping, at the Akshita Rubber factory in Gagan Pahad of Rajendranagar in the early hours of Thursday.
The victims were from Bihar and identified as Sandeep, Devender, Naval Yadav and Jai Kishan. They were in their early 20s. The incident occurred around 4 a.m. when the workers were sleeping in their rooms provided for them on the factory premises.
“Somehow the pipe running over the roof of the shed got burst. As the hot chemical spilled on the roof, flames erupted,” Cyberabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand told The Hindu. There was no time left for the workers, who were asleep, to escape. Workers taking rest in other room got panicked and ran out. None were injured. Tension prevailed at the factory as scores of locals, factory workers and family members of the victims assembled there.
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The victims got burnt beyond recognition. Three of them were nearly reduced to ashes, the police said. “As the incident occurred in the early hours, firemen were not alerted immediately. Local fire tenders, however, arrived around 8 a.m.,” the Shamshabad ACP Bhadreshwar said.