Sangareddy blast: Confusion reigns over death toll, identification of bodies

Confusion continues over the death toll and identification of victims in the Sigachi factory blast. While 36 bodies were retrieved by Tuesday, only a few were identified. The process for DNA tests has begun, with blood samples being collected from relatives

Sangareddy: Confusion prevailed over the number of fatalities after Monday’s devastating explosion at Sigachi Chloro Chemicals Private Limited in Pashamylaram and also on the number of bodies retrieved from the blast site until Tuesday evening.

While Collector P Pravinya announced that 36 bodies were retrieved from the blast site so far, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, who spoke to the Collector while inspecting the blast site, announced that 46 persons had died in the incident. At the same time, sources at the mortuary of the Patancheru government hospital said 39 bodies were shifted to the mortuary while 11 bodies were sent to native places of the victims. The mortuary staff were directed to be prepared to receive another 10 to 15 bodies late on Tuesday night.

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Meanwhile, the kin of the workers, who have been waiting at the site since Monday morning, staged a protest demanding that the officials hand over the bodies or at least the remains to them. They sought clarification on whether their kin had died or were injured in the mishap. Since the relatives were waiting at the blast site, officials were reportedly preparing to shift some bodies later in the night.

Meanwhile, lack of clarity prevailed over the number of persons on duty at the time of the blast. While officials released a list on Monday evening stating that there were 149 persons on duty, the number was reduced to 143 on Tuesday morning. There were no answers as to why names of six persons were removed.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) State secretary John Wesley, who visited the mishap site, accused the management of hiding the names of several workers from the list. He said many workers worked as daily wagers in the company, which the management was not disclosing. Adding credence to the argument, representatives of management did not disclose the number of workers on duty even to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy when he visited the site on Tuesday.

Though there was prior information on the Chief Minister’s visit, the management skipped attending the meeting, which irked Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues. Even though some senior officials of Sigachi were present, they too did not disclose the list of skilled and unskilled workers to Revanth Reddy, which left him baffled. Neither the management nor the State government have so far identified the cause of the mishap, let alone taking action against those responsible.

According to an official statement from Collector Pravinya, 36 bodies were retrieved from the blast site since Monday, of which 13 were identified. While 34 workers were undergoing treatment in different hospitals, the condition of more than 10 of them was stated to be critical. As many as 58 persons escaped unhurt from the blast site while the fate and whereabouts of 15 persons remained unknown even on Tuesday evening. Efforts to identify the recovered bodies through DNA testing have begun with blood samples being collected from relatives.