Dombivli: Three dead, over 85 injured in blast at chemical factory

At least three workers have been killed and over 85 people injured after a blast at an industrial unit in Dombivili township of Thane district on Thursday.

The mishap reportedly occurred when cylinders exploded leading to a fire in the chemical manufacturing unit of Herbert Brown Pharmaceutical & Research Laboratories at Shivaji Udyog Nagar of MIDC phase-II area in Dombivili (East), District Disaster Control Officer Dinesh Kurhade said. More than a dozen fire tenders were at the site to douse the flames, Kurhade said.

"Blast took place around 11.30am in fine industry and Probase  industry which affected other 6 industries. Cylinders are still trapped under the debris which can trigger blast and so we carefully clearing the debris. People are still feared to be trapped under debris. We will check if the company's had followed norms or not, if not then we will prosecute the guilty" said THANE JT CP Ashutosh Dumbre.

Image: Zee 24 Taas

The impact of the blast, which took place at around 11:30 am, was reportedly so severe that it was felt up to an area of 4 to 5 kilometres and shattered the glass of several buildings and cars.  

Fire engines from various places- Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Midc ,Thane - arrived at the spot. More than 17 ambulances were present at the site which took patients to hospitals. Water tankers were also rushed to the spot.

The area was cordoned off and mobile services in the area were suspended. The injured have been rushed to AIMS hospital. Thane District Collector Dr Mahendra Kalyankar and Municipal Commissioner E Ravindran were monitoring the rescue operation.

Visuals from site of fire break out after a blast in a boiler of a chemical factory in Mumbai, Maharashtra. pic.twitter.com/WHQIfy7tku

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Thane's Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde visited the site and has promised that he will extend financial help to the injured and kin of the dead. He also said that the guilty will be prosecuted.

"Two were bought drop dead and total 20 people are admitted as injured out of which 3 are critical," MS of AIMS Hopsital, Avdesh Sharma said.

One of those brought dead has been identified as Mahesh Pandey.
 
The impact of the blast also felt at Ikon hospital where one slab collapsed but no one was injured.

At the hospital, out of the 60 patients brought, 9 were admitted while one died. The rest of the patients were being treated on OPD basis. 

"We tried to revive him but couldn't save him. His name was Dnyaneshwar Hazare, 45" said Dr Ashlesha Deshmukh, ICON Hospital.

Dombivali's BJP MLA Ravindra Chavhan blamed the industries for not following safety norms and said that he had complained many times about it. He added that such chemical factories should be kept outside the city. He also said he will extend financial help towards the victims relatives.

Pooja Pasad, a 23-year-old who lives in Star Colony felt the shock waves at home. Windows panes of some of the houses in her building were shattered. "Everyone thought it was an earthquake. Everyone has been vacated from the building as of now."

Mahavir Nagar, which is within 1 km radius too felt the impact and residents vacated the 12 building colony. 

Shaanthi Iyer, who lives in on the ground floor in Mahavir Nagar was in the kitchen when she felt the shock waves. "All the boxes in the shelves started falling off suddenly and there was a loud, shrill noise.  I immediately ran out of the building with my househelp and grand daughter." 

Another resident of the colony who lives on the ground floor, Binita Jain said that the window panes of her home shattered too. 

Meanwhile, CM Devendra Fadnavis has said that he was in touch with the local administration and would leave no stone unturned in the relief operation.

Clearing traffic for ambulances

There are repairs ongoing at the Saket Bridge and heavy traffic at the Kalyan-Dombivli roads. The Thane Traffic Division has appealed to make way for any ambulances passing through this road towards hospitals in the city.

If any ambulance is stuck, they can call on 8879118811. Immediate help will be provided by officials to clear roads, said Dr. Rashmi Karandikar, DCP, Traffic (Thane).

With inputs from Rupali Shinde of Team Iamin.