Mahad chemical factory fire: 4 more bodies pulled out; death toll touches 11

The bodies of the last four workers trapped in a chemical factory fire in Raigad district, India, have been recovered, bringing the death toll to 11.

Bodies of the last four workers trapped inside a chemical factory at Mahad MIDC in Raigad district were pulled out on Monday, taking the death toll in the fire accident to 11, police said.

Mahad chemical factory fire: 4 more bodies pulled out; death toll touches 11

About 57 workers were on duty at the plant of Blue Jet Healthcare when a blast around 10.30 am on Friday triggered a massive fire. While 46 managed to rush out, among whom seven suffered minor injuries, 11 others were still unaccounted for. This prompted the district administration to call in for help from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) unit in Pune.

In the early hours of Saturday, an NDRF team began its rescue operation and by the end of the day removed the charred remains of seven workers.

The operation was halted on Sunday after NDRF personnel reported the presence of highly inflammable chemical drums exposed at the site. A hydraulic crane was pressed into service to relocate them. “By Monday evening, the chemical drums were removed, and we could locate the remaining four bodies which were completely charred,” Ravi Prakash, second-in-command of NDRF, said.

Raigad collector Yogesh Mhase said they can now discuss the next step of action and fix the accountability.

“For the last four days, our priority had been to rescue those alive and find the bodies. Now, we can sit down and discuss our next step. The families of the deceased would each get ₹30 lakh in compensation from the company and ₹5 lakh from the government,” he said.

The seven bodies that were found on Saturday were sent to Panvel rural hospital for post-mortem.

“The cause of death was 100% deep burn injuries. The burns were so severe that hardly a few bones and muscle tissues were left on the body. We collected DNA samples and sent them to the forensic lab in Kalina for analysis. Blood samples of relatives of all the 11 workers have been sent to the lab for identification,” forensic expert and medical superintendent of Uran rural hospital, Babaso Kalel, said.

Assistant police inspector Maruti Andhale from Mahad MIDC police station said no case had been registered yet as the priority was to find the bodies. “Our investigation is under way.”

When contacted, Harish Motwani, chief operating officer, Blue Jet Healthcare, said, “The factory inspector and other authorities are investigating to ascertain the cause of the fire.”

The 11 deceased workers have been identified as Abhimanyu Bhimrang Urao, Jeevan Kumar Chaubey, Vikas Babul Mahanto, Sanjay Shivaji Pawar, Akshay Balaram Sutar, Aditya More, Shashikant Dattatrey Bhusane, Somnath Shivaji Vaydande, Vishal Ravindra Koli, Aslam Mehboob Shaikh and Satish Bapu Salunke. The seven injured workers are Mayur Pradeeprao Nimbalkar, Jata podo Urao, Swapnil Sharad Ambre, Rahul Nimba Girase, Nimai Luya Murmu, Uttap Nani Gopal Vishwas and Vikram Chimaji Dere.