A watchman of K.K. Apartments complex in Anantapur, Chakali Satish, 30, died in a massive blast on Friday afternoon when he tried to empty some chemical used in making paints into a small rainwater drain in front of an abandoned storage shed. Satish is survived by wife and two children.
According to the One Town Circle Inspector Ravi Shnakar Reddy and District Fire Officer V. Srinivas Reddy, Chakali Satish, who used to work as a watchman in K.K. Apartments, in which the owner of the paints and chemicals shed Ismail resides, had come the shed at 1.30 p.m. to fetch some empty drums from the shed on an order by the owner of the shed and, in the process, emptied the chemical in the drum into the drain in which water was stagnant. When the chemical came in contact with water, a massive blast took place in which Mr. Satish was torn into pieces instantaneously.
While the police had sent the samples of the chemical to the forensic lab, it is being said that the substance in the drum probably contained Sodium, Hydrogen Sulphide, Potassium or Aluminium compound, which get ignited instantly on coming in contact with water. Those chemicals are stored under kerosene or oil.
The police said they had registered a case against the owner of the shed and were investigating. There were 10 such plastic drums in the shed, which was abandoned years ago.
