Industrial tragedy in Patancheru: 16 killed, 34 injured in Pashamylaram chemical factory blast

Sixteen employees were killed and 34 injured, several critically, in a massive explosion at Sigachi Chloro Chemicals in Pashamylaram. The incident exposed safety lapses, with delayed rescue systems and no mechanism to assist distressed family members.

Sangareddy: In one of the worst industrial accidents in the Patancheru region, 16 employees lost their lives and 34 others sustained serious injuries following an explosion at Sigachi Chloro Chemicals Private Limited in Pashamylaram industrial area on Monday morning at 9.30 am.

Of the injured, 12 are said to be in intensive care, some of them reportedly on life support after having suffered 70 to 80 per cent burn injuries. The critical condition of the injured is expected to take the toll higher.

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With nearly 150 employees on duty at the time of the explosion, officials and company management fear that several may still be trapped under the debris of the ground plus two-storey building, which collapsed due to the blast.

The incident has raised serious concerns over the lack of regular inspections by both industry management and government officials. The high-intensity blast sent shockwaves across neighbouring colonies and industrial units. The explosion also triggered a massive fire, which prevented remaining workers from entering the building to rescue their colleagues.

A worker revealed that even the fire extinguishers failed to function when they attempted to contain the flames before fire personnel arrived. Despite making desperate efforts to douse the fire manually, the blaze quickly spread, engulfing the entire facility.

Sangareddy Collector P Pravinya, SP Paritosh Pankaj, and other officials rushed to the spot and monitored the rescue operations. Multiple fire tenders were deployed. After several hours of operations, 34 injured workers were moved to hospitals in the region. By evening, 14 bodies were recovered, while two more employees succumbed to burn injuries in hospital, taking the death toll to 16.

As of late evening, officials had only managed to identify three victims — Jaganmohan, Naganath Tiwari and Shashibhushan — while the severely charred condition of the other bodies posed a major challenge in identification.

The absence of an official mechanism to communicate with family members led to distressing scenes at the site. Several relatives rushed to the factory seeking information but were met with silence, with neither the management nor district officials providing any updates. Minister Damodara Rajanarasimha, who arrived at the site two hours after the incident, failed to issue any immediate instructions to set up a system for assisting the victims’ families, leading to further chaos.

Former Minister T Harish Rao visited the location later in the day and demanded the immediate establishment of a help desk to assist the families. Interacting with the kin of missing employees, he asked the Collector to ensure support systems were put in place and urged that those in critical condition be shifted to corporate hospitals for better treatment. It was only after this that a help desk was set up.

Rescue operations were being carried out by personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Telangana Fire & Rescue Services, and the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) to locate those still trapped under the rubble.