5 dead, 119 hurt in Dombivali factory blast

At least five people lost their lives and over 119 others were injured as a major blast destroyed a chemical factory within MIDC area of Dombivali’s industrial estate on Thursday.

The impact of the blast that occurred at about 11.30 am in Probace Enterprises gutted five other factories around the set-up and grievously injured about 25 workers from the nearby industries. It also rocked the residential buildings within the radius of 1.5 kilometres, shattering windowpanes and melting metal grills of the windows, doors, and shops, leading to multiple injuries.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the accident site and also the hospital where some of the injured are admitted. The state government will bear all the expenses for their medical treatment, he said, adding that an in-depth inquiry will be conducted into the incident.

The fire brigade sent over a dozen fire engines to the spot immediately and it took them two hours to douse the fire. Cooling and rescue operations continued all day, but yielded little results. Officers of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to the spot to clear the debris and they suspect more workers might still be trapped under the debris.

Meanwhile, Sharada Pawar, regional officer of land records, Thane confirmed that the blast radius is up to 720 square metres, within the Shivaji Udyog Nagar of MIDC phase-II, spread over 362 hectares.

The injured workers and residents of the vicinity were rushed to five hospitals in the nearby area, including Rukmini Bai Hospital in Kalyan, Shastri Nagar Hospital, AIIMS, ICON, Shivam, Neptune, and Fortis Hospitals in Dombivali. Over 60 people of the 119 injured were released by 5 pm on Thursday, after primary medical aid was given to them.

Even though the reason behind the blast could not be confirmed, Sandeep Khumbalwar, director of the directorate of steam boilers that audits the machinery within industries, said, “It definitely did not originate in a boiler. What is of concern is that it might be a chemical reaction gone wrong in the chemical distillation unit.

Chemicals in this unit are solvents and hence hazardous. I still cannot confirm if the fumes resulting from the explosion are poisonous.”

Minister of public works department Eknath Shinde, who visited the spot after the blast, said, “We will ensure that the cause of the blast is determined and that all workers affected by the blast are compensated duly.”

Shiv Sena leader and minister of industries in the Maharashtra government Subhash Desai also inspected the tragedy. He said, “It is a tragic incident. We do not know yet if the chemical factory had subscribed to all the safety standards. I have ordered a probe into the workings of all chemical factories in the MIDC area to be undertaken immediately. All factories are shut.”

Thane district collector Dr Mahendra Kalyankar, and municipal commissioner E. Ravindran oversaw the rescue operations throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Sagar Chalse, All India Labour Enquiry officer of Maharashtra state expressed discontent with the operations. He said, “There are bound to be up to 70 more people trapped under the debris, all workers of Probace. Many will be women as the first shift was on which consists mostly of women.”

According to joint commissioner of police, Thane, Ashutosh Dumbare, the owner of the factory Probace Enterprises approached the police. However, he was unavailable for comment.