Gas leak at pharma firm leaves 4 workers dead, 2 critical in Maharashtra

Mumbai: In a tragic incident, four workers were killed and two others hospitalised after inhaling leaked nitrogen gas at a pharmaceutical company in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Thursday. The incident took place at Medley Pharma located on plot number 13 of Boisar Industrial Estate, some 130 kilometres from the metropolis, said officials.

The deceased are: Kalpesh Raut (43), a resident of Chinchani in Dahanu; Bengali Thakur (46) from Patna in Bihar; Dheeraj Prajapati (31), a resident of Shivajinagar in Bosiar's Salvad area and Kamlesh Yadav (31) from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the Chief of Palghar district disaster management cell, Vivekanand Kadam, the gas leaked from the nitrogen reaction tank at the pharma company between 2.30 pm and 3 pm, seriously affecting six workers.

"The six workers were rushed to Shinde hospital, where four of them died around 6.15 pm. At the time of the incident, 36 workers were present in the plant," he said.

The condition of the two injured persons, Rohan Shinde (35) from Boisar and Nilesh Hadal (37) from Dahanu, is critical, and they are being constantly monitored in the ICU, doctors at the facility told PTI.

Local police and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) officials visited the spot and began preliminary investigations. Police have registered a case and launched a probe.

"A probe is underway to see if there were lapses in safety protocols in place for such processes. The exact cause will be determined after a technical assessment of the nitrogen tank," an official said.