At least 10 killed, 22 injured in blast at factory in India that ‘blew the roof off’
- Fire broke out after a boiler exploded in the factory at an industrial facility in Dhaulana in the Hapur area of Uttar Pradesh state, around 60km from New Delhi
- The intensity of the blast blew off the factory’s roof, said Ajay Mishra, a rescuer
At least ten workers were killed and about 22 others have been injured after a fire erupted in a chemical factory in northern India, police said Saturday.
The fire broke out after a boiler exploded in the factory at an industrial facility in Dhaulana in the Hapur area of Uttar Pradesh state, around 60km from New Delhi.
Senior police officer, Pravin Kumar, said the injured have been hospitalised and three people were in a critical condition.
The intensity of the blast blew off the factory’s roof, said Ajay Mishra, a rescuer.
“Rescue operations are under way,” police spokesman Surendra Singh said, adding that the death toll could go up because of a number of people were severely injured.
Authorities ordered an investigation.
Industrial accidents are common in India and often blamed on people flouting safety norms, as well as lax inspection by government officials.
At least 27 people died and dozens more were injured in a massive fire in a building in the Indian capital New Delhi in May.
The fire broke out at a four-storey commercial building in west Delhi in the late afternoon, but its cause was not immediately clear. About 30 fire engines doused the flames after battling for more than five hours.
In 2019, a fire caused by an electrical short circuit in a New Delhi factory producing handbags and other items killed 43 people. In a second major fire that year, a blaze in a six-story building’s illegal rooftop kitchen killed 17 people, also in New Delhi.
Reporting by Associated Press, Reuters
