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Gujarat: An early hours of Thursday, an official said that a day after a massive fire broke out at a chemical plant following an explosion in Gujarat’s Surat city, bodies of seven missing workers were recovered from the premises of a manufacturing facility. Out of the seven persons found dead at the chemical manufacturing unit of Aether Industries Ltd in the Sachin industrial area of the city, one was an employee of the company while six others were working on contract, Surat Collector Ayush Oak said.
He further said, “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.” While 25 injured workers are currently undergoing treatment at various hospitals in this incident.
The fire broke out at around 2 am at a chemical factory situated in the Sachin GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation) industrial area following an explosion in a large tank after leakage of inflammable chemicals stored in it. 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 said 24 people who were injured in the incident are currently receiving treatment in different hospitals.There was public outcry following the accident at the chemical company Aether Industries Ltd in the Sachin industrial area of the city. Notably, company owner Ashwin Desai was also included in the list of world-famous Forbes Magazine 2023.
According to the information, one was an employee of the company while six others were working on contract. The deceased have been identified as Divyesh Patel (company employee), Santosh Vishwakarma, Sanat Kumar Mishra, Dharmendra Kumar, Ganesh Prasad, Sunil Kumar and Abhishek Singh.
Around 150 employees were working in the company during the night, with approximately 25 employees sustaining injuries in the accident. Initially, the company administration had not revealed the information about the 7 missing employees. However, this morning, the bodies of all seven individuals were recovered. Currently, all the injured workers are receiving treatment in various private hospitals.
Following the fire incident at the Aether chemical factory, the collector’s office has taken action. A team from Industrial Safety and Health visited the site after a fire erupted due to a leakage in a 25,000-liter tank designed to store tetrahydrofuran chemicals. Currently, a comprehensive investigation is underway, covering all aspects, including fire safety, at the company. Additionally, in consideration of the worker’s safety, the administration has issued a closure notice to the company.
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.” Surat Chief Fire Officer-in-charge Basant Parekh said, “The three-storey building of the factory caught fire due to the explosion and the entire unit was gutted.”
He further said that at least 15 fire tenders were sent to douse the flame and the work of extinguishing the fire continued for nine hours. An official from Sachin GIDC fire station said the fire was brought under control around 11 am. Injuries to approximately 25 people have been reported, it had said in the statement on Wednesday.
