Hyderabad: Sigachi Industries on Wednesday said that the blast at its facility at Pashamylaram in Telangana resulted in the death of 40 people and left 33 injured.

The company released a brief statement — its first since the explosion shook the facility in the Pashamylaram industrial area of Medak district near Hyderabad on Monday, IANS reported.

“It is with anguish that we share details of the accident that occurred at the Sigachi Industries facility in Pashamylaram, Telangana, resulting in the loss of 40 valued team members and one that left over 33 injured,” it said.

“Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragic accident. Since the time of the accident, we have been coordinating the emergency response, family support, and extending cooperation with the investigation and compliance efforts,” reads the statement.

According to an IANS report, Sigachi Industries also stated that it is committed to an ex gratia compensation of ₹1 crore to the families of the deceased, while those injured will receive full medical and rehabilitation support.

“As we await the results of the investigation, we would like to clarify that the accident was not caused by a reactor explosion at the plant, as mentioned in sections of the media. We will continue to send updates as we receive information from the investigations,” it said.

The company also announced that the plant operations will remain temporarily suspended for approximately 90 days.

Meanwhile, state Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha on Wednesday visited the accident site where the rescue operation continued for the third day.

He stated that the condition of the injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals is stable.

The minister said 11 people were still missing, and the rescue teams continued clearing the debris.

Primary investigations have revealed two possibilities for the accident: One, not cleaning the blow air handler, resulting in suffocation; two, use of hydrogen peroxide or some other chemical for cleaning the raw materials. 

However, another analysis says that pressure built up during the drying or handling process might have caused the burst.

In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, company management said that 'in addition to the human losses, the incident also caused damage to certain ancillary equipment and civil structures within the facility'. 

Pashamylaram plant is one of the three facilities that manufacture Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC). The unit contributes around 6,000 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) out of the total operating capacity of 21,700 MTPA. The remaining is produced at the plants in Raichur and Sultanpur.

DNA tests inevitable

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy described the accident as an unprecedented industrial tragedy. As most of the workers were charred to death beyond recognition, a DNA test has become inevitable to identify them.

Most of the workers who died in the Sigachi chemical factory tragedy were from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Sigachi Pharma was established in 1989.

Advocate seeks NHRC intervention

Noted advocate Rama Rao Immaneni says the factory management should be booked for culpable homicide. Immaneni, who had previously sought the rights panel's intervention in the Pushpa 2 stampede case that left a woman dead and her young son hospitalised, lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) requesting for a direction to the state government to register cases against the company's top management, Shanmukhanadhan, Guntaka Dhana Lakshmi , Amitraj Sinha, Sarveshwar Reddy, Vivek Kumar, O Subbarami Reddy, Ravindra Prasad Sinha and Bindu Vinodan.

"I have also sought a direction from the Commission (NHRC) to the state labour and factories departments to conduct a safety audit in all the companies in Telangana ", he said.

Advocate-activist Mamidi Venu Madhav wondered how the administrative office was allowed to be housed on the production unit.

"There should not be any RCC building, etc Further quality control labs should be far from the reactors. Other departments in the factory should also be a little away from the reactors. All are at one place, resulting in heavy loss of lives," he pointed out, insisting that the officials should be held responsible for the tragedy.

(With IANS inputs)