At least a dozen labourers, several of them women, were killed when a portion of a chemical warehouse collapsed following a powerful explosion on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.
Many persons sustained injuries in the incident which occurred on Pirana-Piplaj Road, an industrial area located on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. A lot of them are said to be critical.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered a probe by Additional Chief Secretary (Labour and Employment) Vipul Mitra and Sanjiv Kumar (IAS), Chairman of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB).
The State government has also announced compensation of ₹4 lakh to the families of each deceased.
The Fire brigade personnel pulled out 18 persons from the rubble and shifted them to the LG Hospital, said chief fire officer MF Dastur.
Of the 18, 12 were either declared brought dead or succumbed to injuries shortly after getting admitted to the government-run hospital.
“We are using concrete breakers to dismantle the slabs to pull out people. Till now, we have pulled out 18 persons from the debris and sent them to the hospital,” Mr. Dastur told the media at the accident site.
A fire control room official said at least 26 rescue and fire fighting vehicles were pressed into service.
The cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. Some local factory owners said it took place in a boiler installed at the chemical godown-cum-processing unit.
Gujarat has been witnessing accidents in industrial factories and commercial buildings with high casualties. In August this year, 8 patients undergoing COVID-19 treatment died in a fire in a hospital in Ahmedabad city.
In June, 10 persons died in a major blast that caused massive fire in a chemical factory in Dahej.
Earlier in February, seven workers were killed in a fire in a textiles factory of the Chiripal group in the industrial area of Ahmedabad. In January, a blast and subsequent fire in a manufacturing unit near Vadodara killed six workers.
In May 2019, a massive fire in a commercial building sans any fire safety system in Surat had killed 22 students who were attending a coaching class in the building.
