By AFP
At least 36 people died and 36 were injured in a factory fire in India’s southern state of Telangana, a senior fire department official said on Tuesday, after an explosion at Sigachi Industries, a day earlier.
“We are still clearing the debris … The building has collapsed and fabricated completely,” GV Narayana Rao, director of Telangana fire disaster response emergency, told Reuters.
“Once we are all done with the clearing, only then we will be able to assess if any other body is still remaining under the debris or if it is all clear,” he said.
On Monday, an explosion occurred at a chemical facility of Sigachi Industries leading to a fire, the police said.
The factory is among three across India where Sigachi produces microcrystalline cellulose, a chemical compound used in food production and drugmaking.
The plant contributes a little over a fourth of the company’s total capacity of 21,700 million metric tons per annum.
The company did not say what led to the fire, but said it was halting operations at the facility for 90 days, citing damage to equipment and structures within the plant from the fire.
