Telangana factory blast: Sigachi toll hits 40; 3 identified via DNA, 9 still missing

HYDERABAD: The death toll in the Sigachi Industries chemical plant explosion climbed to 40 on Saturday after Mun Mun Choudhary (51), a native of Bihar, succumbed to severe burn injuries at Dhruva Hospitals in Patancheru.Choudhary, who had sustained over 70% burns, had been on ventilator support since the June 30 blast. His vitals deteriorated late Friday night, and he was declared dead in the early hours of Saturday. He is the third victim to die at Dhruva Hospitals, following the deaths of Bhimrao Vitthal Kand (24) and B Hema Kumar (44) earlier. After a post-mortem, arrangements were made to transport Choudhary's body to his hometown in Bihar.According to officials, 22 more injured workers are still undergoing treatment in various private hospitals, seven of whom remain in ICUs, with their condition continuing to be critical.

Meanwhile, nine people are still reported missing, and two bodies remain unidentified at the govt area hospital mortuary in Patancheru. On Saturday, three more bodies were identified through DNA analysis reports received from the Forensic Science Laboratory.

The newly-identified victims are Poornachandar Sahu from Odisha, and Aslam Ansari and Shambu Ram Vihar, both from Bihar. "With this, the total number of deceased identified has risen to 38. So far, a total of 37 body parts were also found," said Dr Srinivas Reddy, superintendent, govt area hospital, Patancheru. Officials are still awaiting a few more DNA reports to confirm the identities of the remaining two bodies kept at the hospital mortuary.Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and HYDRAA have shifted the debris from the blast site to an open industrial plot about 200 metres away for a detailed search through the wreckage."On Saturday, we recovered body parts, internal organs, and identity cards such as Aadhar card believed to belong to some of the victims. These have been sent to the FSL for forensic analysis," said a fire department official.