After the boiler explosion, angry workers set afire vehicles parked inside the premises of the Sasa Musa Sugar Mill. They blamed the accident on the owner's "failure" to get the machinery repaired despite complaints.
Police officials told that they have arrested the owner Mehmood Ali, and his two sons Rinky Ali and Siksy Ali.
The Station House Officer (SHO) of Kuchaykot police station, Awadhesh Kumar said "Five bodies have been recovered from the site of the incident. Identity of one of the deceased could not be established while the remaining four have been identified,"
"The deceased are Kripa Yadav, Kanhaiya Sharma and Vishwakarma Yadav - all residents of earby Khajuri village - and Shamsuddin Ansari from Padrauna in Uttar Pradesh", he said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a compensation of Rs four lakh to the next of the kin of each deceased. He also dispatched teams of the National Disaster Relief Force and the State Disaster Relief Force to the site of the incident for carrying out relief work.
The Kuchaykot SHO said out of the 10 persons admitted to Gopalganj Sadar hospital with burn injuries, the condition of two is critical and they have been sent to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).
According to Superintendent of Police, Gopalganj, Mrityunjay Kumar, the explosion took place at around 2 am.
(with input from agencies)