At least 17 persons injured and three of them are serious, when a major fire broke out in Nagarjuna Agrichem plant at Chilakapalem in Etcherla mandal in Srikakulam district on Saturday morning.
According to reports, the fire mishap took place after explosion in the chemical instruments section in the 5th block which engaged in manufacture of agri chemicals. All the injured were immediately rushed to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Srikakulam. Among the injured, three were shifted to King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam for higher treatment.
District Collector Venkatarami Reddy said there was no loss of lives but 17 workers were injured in the explosion. He said that fire tenders from Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts were pressed into service to douse the flames. He said that Joint Collector Bhaskar has already commenced relief and rescue operations after reaching the spot.
Stating that the reason for mishap was yet to be ascertained, Reddy said the district authorities have been evacuating residents of nearby villages of 10 kms radius of the plant amidst rumors of spread of gases from the plant suffocating people.
Nagarjuna Agrichem plant vice-president Rama Raju said that nearly 200 labourers working in the plant at the time of mishap. However, no loss of life was occurred as the explosion took place during tea break, stated Rama Raju.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu have expressed shock and concern at the fire accident in the Nagarjuna Agri-chem factory in Srikakulam where several workers were injured.
In a statement Naidu sought the government to take immediate steps to rescue the workers caught inside the factory and also provide medical treatment to the injured in specialized hospitals. He said such an explosion indicated lack of adequate safety measures and urged the authorities to initiate steps to monitor safety checks in such crucial industries in rural areas. (INN)