Most workers at lunch, major tragedy averted at Hyderabad explosion site: TRS legislator

Only 10 employees were working at Vindhya Organics in the industrial development area in Bollarum of Sangareddy district when the explosion took place in the afternoon and eight of them sustained injuries as they ran out of the unit when the fire broke out.

A legislator of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) said on Saturday there were around 40 workers in the chemical factory on the outskirts of Hyderabad, where a huge explosion was reported, but a major mishap was averted as most of them were in the canteen because of the lunch hour. The MLA from Patancheru slammed the factory management “for not taking safety measures.”

Thick fumes seen billowing after the explosion inside Vindhya Organics in Bollarum on Saturday. (Sourced Photo)

Only 10 employees were working at Vindhya Organics in the industrial development area in Bollarum of Sangareddy district when the explosion took place in the afternoon and eight of them sustained injuries as they ran out of the unit when the fire broke out, news agency PTI quoted police as saying. The eight workers were being treated at a private hospital after the blast at Vindhya Organics, officials said. Rescue operations are still underway with four more fire tenders rushed to the spot, apart from the four already present, they added.

The blast inside Vindhya Organics was supposedly due to the explosion of a reactor, divisional fire officer V Srinivas said. “A solvent was kept for some reaction after which it caught fire,” news agency ANI quoted the police as saying.

In the afternoon, Srinivas had told reporters that the situation inside the factory couldn’t be ascertained as it was difficult to enter premises. “We are making attempts to go in while dousing fire gradually,” Srinivas had said.

Officials also evacuated workers from adjacent factories.