At least 15 people have been killed when a fire broke out a chemical factory in Urawade in Pune district’s Mulshi taluka on Monda, officials said.
According to Pune District Collector Rajesh Deshmukh, while the fire has been controlled, all the areas of the factory aren’t accessible yet.
“Fifteen bodies have been brought out so far. The search is still on and the count may go up. The total casualty will become clear only after the entire area is searched,” Rajesh Deshmukh said.
Deshmukh, after a visit to the site, said a probe has been instituted under Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Maval, with fire officers and police officers as members, to determine the cause of the fire and if there were any violation of the safety measures the plant should have been following.
ANI quoted Pune Fire Department officials as saying, “Out of the 37 employees who were on duty when the fire broke out, 20 have been rescued.” Eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot after the blaze was reported at 3:30 pm.
The fire has been doused and the cooling process has started. The fire brigade along with Pune rural police has started a sweep of the area to search and rescue the missing people and recover bodies.
“A total of 37 workers were inside the factory. As per the roll call, initially a total of 17 persons, including 15 women and two men, were missing,” said Devendra Potphode, chief of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Fire Brigade.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced an ex gratia help of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those who died in the fire.
