Damaged equipments at a glass factory following a blast, at Shadnagar in Rangareddy district on Friday.
Five workers were killed and 10 others injured in an explosion inside the South Glass Factory located in Shadnagar on Friday evening. The factory is surrounded by an open space.
Of the 10 injured, three are reported to have sustained major injuries while seven others have sustained minor injuries and are undergoing treatment in a private hospital in the vicinity.
“The blast occurred in the autoclave on the premises due to high pressure, crossing the tolerance limit. The safety valve, which generally has a set tolerance did not work properly and blew up. Due to this, the metal door of the autoclave gave way and flew away along with the glass shards, which fell on the workers and killed them on the spot,” Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories Manohar Reddy said after visiting the factory. He said there was no power in the premises and initial investigation had to be conducted with a lamp. South Glass Factory is a manufacturer of specialised glass products like toughened glass, laminated glass and solar control glass, among others.
According to Shadnagar ACP, the workers died when the explosion sent glass shards flying in the closed premises. “The explosion was reportedly caused by a spike in pressure in the air compressor in the factory. The compressor blew up and shattered the glass panes in the factory,” Shadnagar Station House Officer P. Jagan said.
CM directs relief
Following the incident, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy instructed the authorities to shift the injured people to hospitals and provide better medical treatment immediately. Orders were passed to the District Collector to coordinate with revenue, police, fire, labour and Industries and Medical and Health departments to speed up relief measures.
Meanwhile Siricilla MLA K.T. Rama Rao called for immediate safety audit in the industries. “Appeal to Telangana Government to immediately conduct a thorough safety audit & review disaster management plans in all industrial areas so as to prevent any recurrence,” the former minister said in his post on X (formerly Twitter).
https://x.com/KTRBRS/status/1806684933894595025
The deceased are yet to be identified, the officials said. Remains of the dead have been sent to Shadnagar Government Hospital for postmortem evaluation, the officials said. Further investigation in the case is underway.
