Gujarat: 7 Bodies Recovered From Fire-Hit Chemical Unit In Surat

A day after a major fire engulfed a chemical manufacturing facility in Gujarat's Surat, the bodies of seven missing workers were recovered from the premises.

The bodies of seven missing workers were recovered at a chemical manufacturing facility in Gujarat's Surat city in the early hours of Thursday, news agency PTI reported, citing officials. This comes a day after a major fire engulfed the premises. Speaking on the matter, Surat Collector Ayush Oak said that out of the seven bodies recovered from the chemical manufacturing unit of Aether Industries Ltd in Sachin industrial area of Surat, one was an employee of the company while six others were working on contract. .

"During a search operation in the factory premises, officials found bodies of seven workers who went missing after the fire which engulfed the plant on Wednesday," he said, as quoted by PTI. According to PTI, the deceased have been identified as Divyesh Patel (company employee), Santosh Vishwakarma, Sanat Kumar Mishra, Dharmendra Kumar, Ganesh Prasad, Sunil Kumar and Abhishek Singh.

The collector stated that 24 people who sustained injured in the incident are currently receiving treatment in different hospitals.

Fire Broke Out After Explosion, Says Official  

Earlier, Surat in-charge chief fire officer Basant Pareek said that the fire broke out at the chemical plant at around 2 am on Wednesday following an explosion in a large tank after leakage of inflammable chemicals stored in it, as reported by PTI. As many as 15 fire tenders were engaged in the fire-fighting operation which went on for nine hours to bring the blaze under control.

In a statement dated November 29 and submitted to stock exchanges, the company said, "...we hereby inform that an incident of fire was reported at manufacturing site of the company at Plot No. 8203, GIDC Sachin, Surat, today early morning around 01:50 Hrs." The statement further stated that Injuries to approximately 25 people have been reported.