HYDERABAD: The death toll from the massive explosion at a multi-storey chemical plant in Telangana’s Medak district climbed to 35 by Tuesday morning, with several workers injured and many still unaccounted for.Rescue operations are ongoing, and officials fear the toll may rise further as teams continue to sift through the rubble in search of those possibly trapped beneath the collapsed building.The government area hospital in Patancheru, where post-mortem examinations are being conducted, confirmed 35 deaths so far.The workers at the plant hail from multiple states, including Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.Following state health minister Damodar Raja Narsimha’s directives, health authorities dispatched forensic doctors to the area hospital. The Forensic Science Laboratory is supporting with DNA analysis. Close to 200 personnel from fire services, SDRF, and NDRF teams are conducting rescue operations at the site.‘Dryer malfunction behind factory blast’The early morning blast reduced the building to rubble at the Rs 500-crore Sigachi Industries facility.Initial findings suggest a dryer malfunction in the quality control unit triggered the blast. “General manager A Loganan, in charge of attendance, also died. This makes it difficult to determine who was in the building,” a fire official said. Loganan had just stepped out of his car when the explosion struck the factory, about 50km from Hyderabad.An adjacent HR block and a rear compound wall were partially damaged. Chunks of cement crushed some workers, while others suffered fatal burns as flames spread rapidly after the blast. Many bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Only four bodies have been identified till late Monday.PM Narendra Modi expressed condolences and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.Distraught relatives waited outside hospitals and at the blast site, hoping for newsas authorities struggled to trace missing workers. “Lack of accurate information from the company management on how many workers were inside has complicated rescue efforts,” director of fire services G V Narayana Rao said. “More could be trapped under the debris. Only once the rubble is cleared will we have a clear picture.”Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy will visit the hospital and meet victims’ families Tuesday. He directed the health minister, chief secretary and DGP to oversee rescue and relief efforts. A fivemember committee was formed to investigate the cause of the explosion and recommend preventive measures.Sigachi Industries, which manufactures microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), informed stock exchanges about an “accident in the vicinity” of its plant in Medak district.
