Bhandara, Jan 24 (PTI) Eight workers were killed and five others injured as a blast ripped through a unit of the ordnance factory in eastern Maharashtra’s Bhandara district on Friday morning, officials said.
At the completion of rescue operations after nearly eight hours, the final death toll stood at eight, said a district official.
The impact of the blast was so powerful that the building where it took place was completely destroyed. Residents of three villages in the vicinity felt the ground shaking, said a local man whose 20-year-old cousin was among the deceased.
Pictures taken immediately after the explosion showed a huge cloud of smoke rising above the site.
Earlier, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had said that as per the preliminary information, eight persons had died in the incident.
The blast took place around 10.30 am in the “LTP section” at the factory located at Jawahar Nagar, officials said.
District collector Sanjay Kolte told PTI that 13 people were working in the unit at the time.
The blast led to fire and subsequent building collapse, and a National Disaster Response Force team was deployed immediately for a rescue operation, said an official release.
Specialised equipment was being used for the rescue operation and efforts were on to ensure the safety of all involved, said the release issued by the NDRF.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply saddened” by the incident. All efforts were being made to provide assistance to the affected people, he said on X.
“Deeply saddened to know about the blast at Ordnance Factory at Bhandara, Maharashtra. My condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he said on X.
The deceased workers were identified as Chandrashekar Goswami (59), Manoj Meshram (55), Ajay Nagdeve (51), Ankit Barai (20),Laxman Kelwade (38), Abhishek Chaurasia (35), Dharma Rangari (35) and Sanjay Karemore (32).
Besides, N P Wanjari (55), Sanjay Raut (51), Rajesh Badwaik (33), Sunil Kumar Yadav (24) and Jaydeep Banerjee (42) were injured and undergoing treatment, officials said. PTI CLS DC VT KRK
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