INDIA. Mumbai: A woman worker died, and 18 other workers were injured, in a fire that broke out following an explosion at a boiler unit of the Jindal Poly Film Limited located at Mundhegaon in Igatpuri in the Nashik district of Maharashtra on Sunday.
Four to five of the 18 workers admitted to Suyash Hospital are said to be in critical condition. Local MLA Hiraman Khoskar told the Transcontinental Times that the fire, which broke out in the morning, was brought under control by the Fire Brigade, SDRF, and NDRF units after battling for several hours in the evening. Nearly 25 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire.
At the time of the incident, a sizable number of workers were working in the plant. A major loss of life could be averted due to the timely evacuation of the workers trapped inside the plant. Soon after the incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pawar, Guardian Minister Dada Bhuse, Special Inspector General of Police of Nashik Range, BG Shekhar Patil, and others rushed to the spot.
The fire spread out since the diesel tank also caught fire after the boiler explosion. In the massive fire, materials worth lakhs of rupees were gutted. The plant is recognized as the world’s largest facility for the production of BOPET and BOPP films. Polyethylene film is a plastic film made from ethylene, a hydrocarbon that is mainly obtained from natural gas or petroleum.
The injured were identified as Rakesh Singh, Gajendrasingh Pal, Ganesh Yadav (40), Hiraman Yadav (49), Pavitra Mohiti (22), Kumar Sajiv(28), Kailash Kumar Singh( 40), Dnyaneshwar Yadav (35), Shraddha Goswami (26), Yachika Katiyar ( 30), Pooja Singh( 25), Abhu Talim (29), Manoj Pathak(33), Lakhan Singh( 49) and Suryakumar Raut(41).
Fire in Solapur
In another mishap, three women workers were killed and another three were grievously injured, when a fire broke out in a firecracker manufacturing unit located at Pangari village in Barshi taluka in Solapur district of western Maharashtra on Sunday.
At the time of the incident, nearly 40 workers were working in the factory. Soon after the fire broke out, the locals rushed to the spot and rescued as many workers as they could. The fire was brought under control by the local fire brigade after several hours.
Dr. Virendra Patil, Medical Superintendent of the Pangari Rural Hospital said that the identity of the three deceased women was yet to be established since their bodies were burned beyond recognition. He added that efforts to save the remaining three female workers are ongoing.
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