Palghar factory blast kills two people; several injured

On Monday, August 17, a blast occurred at a chemical factory in Tarapur, Palghar, killing two labourers and injuring four others.

As per reports, the blast happened at around 7:30 in the evening at the Nandolia Organic Chemical Limited. At the time the accident happened, 20 workers were inside the manufacturing unit.

According to district officials, 14 people narrowly escaped the incident without injuries, however, the accident injured Mohammed Altaf (30), Dilip Gupta (28), Umesh Khushwaha (22) Pramod Kumar Mishra (35) who were immediately rushed to the Tunga hospital. Workers identified as Sandeep Khushwaha and Brijesh Maurya succumbed to injuries.

Sandeep Kumar Singh, the operator at the plant, in a statement to the Police, stated an increase in the water pressure in the reactor caused the explosion. The Palghar company manufactures and supplies industrial chemicals, aromatic chemicals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and pigments. It also exports to the US and Europe.

This is the second blast in the MIDC area this year. Due to the hazardous nature of the chemicals, there have been accidents in the unit earlier.

Working with chemical hazards and toxic substances usually pose a wide range of health hazards which includes short term effects such as irritation, sensitization, and carcinogenicity and long term effects such as flammability, corrosion, and volatility.