Telangana plant explosion: death toll reaches 40
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Hyderabad: The death toll in the explosion at the Sigachi Industries' pharma plant in Sangareddy district rose to 40 on Saturday following the death of one more person who was undergoing treatment in a hospital, officials said, PTI reported.
The 48-year-old person from Uttar Pradesh, who had suffered more than 70 per cent burns in the June 30 explosion, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital on Saturday, they said.
Nineteen people were undergoing treatment in hospitals as of Saturday morning, Sangareddy district Additional Collector Chandrashekar Badugu told PTI.
Efforts were on to trace nine people missing after the explosion at the pharma plant in Pashamylaram, officials further said.
The process of identifying the deceased and handing over the mortal remains to their family members was going on, they added.
On Friday, a worker, Bheem Rao, who had been receiving care at Dhruva Hospital in Patancheru, had died, bringing the toll to 39. A native of Maharashtra, he was among those injured in the blast that devastated the plant.
Sigachi Industries confirmed that 12 of the 33 injured team members have since been discharged, and each has received interim relief of ₹1 lakh. It reiterated its commitment to providing full medical and rehabilitation support to the injured.
An official investigation, headed by the Chief Secretary to the Government of Telangana, is currently underway to review the circumstances surrounding the incident. Preliminary findings are expected within a week.
Sangareddy District Collector P. Pravinya said, “…out of 143 people who were in the factory premises at the time of the blast, 61 came out safely."
During a fresh round of search operations on Thursday, rescue teams recovered 20 pieces of skeletal remains from the debris. These remains have been sent to a forensic science laboratory for DNA analysis.
