Two women are reported to have died; nine more were admitted to the hospital after a blast at a fertiliser plant triggered a gas leak in Maharashtra’s Sangli district. The incident occurred around 6:30 pm on Thursday at Myanmar Chemical Co Ltd, situated at Shalgaon MIDC, in the jurisdiction of Kadegaon Tehsil.
As stated in police blotters, there was a blast in one of the plant’s reactors, and toxic chemicals were choked out. The explosion, together with the resultant gas leak, impacted about twelve workers at the plant, who were quickly evacuated to adjacent hospitals. Unfortunately, two women employees and a security guard lost their lives due to the exposure. The women who died have been named as Suchita Uthale, aged 50 years, from Yetgaon, Sangli district and Neelam Rethrekar, 26 years, from Masur, Satara district.
The affected have been taken to Sahyadri Hospital in Karad, where seven of the workers are receiving treatment. Five out of the injured are in critical state and have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit section of the hospital. Local police received preliminary information that ammonia gas was released during the explosion, but the investigations are progressing.
Sangli Superintendent of Police, Sandip Ghug,e said that police, along with other agencies, are still trying to determine the quantum of damage and to study what led to the blast as well. There has now been much concern about the safety measures in chemical plants; government agencies are currently investigating the operations of the plants and the emergency procedures that they follow.
The incident has called for an outpour of solidarity for the losses incurred by the affected families and the injured in the local society. Officials have pledged that a detailed study will be conducted to ensure that such occurrences are not experienced again in the future.
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