Telengana factory blast: Death toll hits 38, count of missing still unclear

HYDERABAD: The death toll in the explosion at Sigachi Industries chemical plant climbed to 38 by Wednesday as rescue teams retrieved two more bodies from the collapsed structure.

Officials were uncertain about the status of 10 to 12 workers who were present during Monday's blast but remain unaccounted for.Trade unions alleged the actual number of missing could be higher, claiming several daily-wage workers were excluded from company records. "Since their names aren't on any record, no one knows what happened to them," said Athimela Manik, vice president of Centre of Indian Trade Unions in Sangareddy district.

"Most of them belong to Bihar, Bengal, and Odisha."The company's senior management and govt officials insisted that clarity would emerge over the next couple of days as the rubble of the collapsed factory is cleared.

At the govt area hospital in Patancheru, doctors received a severed leg, hand, and other human remains recovered from the wreckage. "We are yet to verify if these remains belong to the deceased who have been identified or other victims who are yet to be identified," said hospital superintendent Srinivas Reddy.

Four workers from Odisha among deceased, 5 missing Bhubaneswar/Kendrapada/Berhampur: Four workers from Odisha were among the 38 killed in Monday's explosion at the pharmaceutical unit of Sigachi Industries in Telangana, while five others from the state are still missing, raising fears of a higher death toll. Four other workers from Odisha are currently being treated in local hospitals.The deceased were identified as Rajnala Jagan Mohan (55) from Ganjam, Lagnajeeth Duari from Cuttack, Manoj Rout from Balasore and Dolagobinda Sahu from Jajpur."Efforts are on to locate the missing workers as rescue operations continue for those who may have been trapped in the rubble of the collapsed building," said Pritish Panda, officer on special duty with directorate of Odisha Parivaar, who was sent to the site by the Odisha govt.The missing workers are Chaita Bhadra and Ramesh Gauda from Nabarangpur, Prasant Mohapatra from Ganjam, Purna Chandra Sahu from Cuttack, and another Siddharth Gouda whose native place is yet to be confirmed.In Ganjam's Chhatrapur, the family of Rajnala received his body on Wednesday. "We found only his charred body when we rushed to the plant," said R Sai Yashwanth, the deceased's elder son.Dolagobinda from Jajpur's Erabanka village had worked as a fitter at the unit for four years. "We managed to identify his mangled body and transported it back to our village via ambulance," said his father, Harihar Sahu, adding that the Telangana govet provided Rs 1 lakh as compensation."We want punishment for the chemical factory owner who is responsible for the death of 38 people, including my brother," said Sumit Sahu, Dolagobinda's elder brother.Samir Padhy (24), a machine operator from Baharapur, is fighting for life with 35% burns in a Hyderabad hospital. His colleague, Papu Kumar Choudhury, recalled, "I had just left the area when the first explosion occurred. The entire area was plunged into darkness with smoke, trapping several workers inside."The bodies of the deceased have been sent to their native places by ambulances.