At least two people lost their lives and four others were left injured following a blast triggered by a chemical leak at a factory in Mandya district of Karnataka, said officials on Sunday. The incident occurred at the Keerthi Chemical Industry near Karekatté village in Basaralu.
The plant was previously shut after a protest by farmers in the village over an earlier leak that damaged their crops. Following this, some machinery was being dismantled when the incident occurred. Those who lost their lives are natives of Bihar.
The police have now launched an investigation and registered a first information report (FIR) at the Basaralu Police Station.
Contractor goes missing
Following the incident, the contractor, identified as Guddu Khan, has gone missing and a search is underway to find him, said a worker, while speaking to reporters and adding that there were seven to eight people inside the plant when the incident happened.
"It happened this morning around 10 am... We are from Bihar. There were 7-8 of us... It's a chemical plant, and the tank exploded... 6-7 of us were present, and we got hurt... The new work had started just a month ago... Cutting and fitting were in progress at the time... Currently, two people are injured," said the worker, Rajiv Kumar.
Meanwhile, another worker, Aman, said that the deceased have been identified as Akash and Kallu, while one of the injured has been identified as Qasim. Aman said Kallu was my uncle, adding that the workers were unsure of what chemical was produced at the factory.
"Six people were working near the company's chemical tank when it suddenly exploded, killing two. I wasn’t on duty at the time... Today, three people were brought in for emergency care around 9 am... We’ve only been there for a month," he told reporters.
ALSO READ - Gas pipeline leak triggers fire at ONGC-operated well in Andhra Pradesh
