Bhandara, Jan 24: Eight persons were killed after a blast at an ordnance factory in eastern Maharashtra’s Bhandara district on Friday morning, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said.
District officials, however, stated hours later that seven deaths have been confirmed, and rescue operations are still underway.
The impact of the blast was so powerful that residents of three villages in the vicinity felt the ground shaking, said a local resident whose 20-year-old cousin was among the deceased.
Pictures taken immediately after the explosion showed a huge cloud of smoke rising above the site.
“As per preliminary information, eight persons were killed and seven injured in the blast,” Gadkari told reporters earlier.
The blast took place around 10.30 am in the “LTP section” at the factory located at Jawahar Nagar, officials said.
As per district collector Sanjay Kolte, 13 to 14 people were working in the unit at the time.
The blast led to fire and subsequent building collapse, and a National Disaster Response Force team was deployed immediately for a rescue operation, said an official release.
Specialised equipment was being used for the rescue operation and efforts were on to ensure the safety of all involved, said the release issued by the NDRF.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply saddened” by the incident. All efforts were being made to provide assistance to the affected people, he said on X.
“Deeply saddened to know about the blast at Ordnance Factory at Bhandara, Maharashtra. My condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he said on X.
Four of the deceased workers were identified as Chandrashekhar Goswami (59), Manoj Meshram (55), Ajay Nagdeve (51) and Ankit Barai (20). N P Wanjari (55), Sanjay Raut (51), Rajesh Badwaik (33), Sunil Kumar Yadav (24) and Jaydeep Banerjee (42) were among the injured, district officials said.
Collector Kolte who was at the blast site told PTI that NDRF, State Disaster Response Force, FSL teams, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, Dog Squad and Industrial Safety Teams are engaged in rescue work. (PTI)
