At least 36 killed after explosion at pharmaceutical factory in India

The death toll from yesterday's massive explosion and fire at a pharmaceutical factory in India’s southern state of Telangana has risen to at least 36 while about three dozen were left injured, authorities said today.

The fire department recovered the charred bodies of 34 workers from the accident site in an industrial area about 50 kilometres from the state capital Hyderabad, the state’s fire services director G.V. Narayana Rao told The Associated Press.

Two other workers succumbed to burns and were pronounced dead in hospital, Rao said, adding that debris of the gutted pharmaceutical unit of Sigachi Industries was still being removed to find out if any more workers were trapped.

Nearly three dozen injured workers were admitted to hospitals, he said.

“The whole structure of the factory has collapsed. Fire has been doused, and we hope to finish removing the debris in the next few hours,” Rao said.

The explosion and subsequent fire was reported on Monday in the factory’s spray dryer unit, which is used to process raw material into fine powder for making drugs, Rao said.

The state’s Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha said there were 108 workers inside the factory at the time of the explosion.

“As bodies were badly burnt and mutilated, a special medical team has been deployed to conduct DNA tests," said Narasimha, adding the state government has set up a panel to investigate the cause of the incident.

Witnesses said they heard the explosion from a couple of kilometres away from the site.

India is home to some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, playing a pivotal role in the global supply of generic medicines and vaccines. The country’s robust manufacturing and cost-effective production have made it a hub for pharma giants.

Industrial accidents, particularly involving chemical reactors, aren’t uncommon in such factories, underlining the need for authorities to implement stringent safety protocols and regulatory oversight in a sector critical to public health.

Sigachi Industries Limited is an Indian company dealing with active pharmaceutical ingredients, intermediates and vitamin-mineral blends, according to the company’s website. It has five manufacturing facilities across India and subsidiaries in the US and the United Arab Emirates.