New Delhi, March 9: At least three people have been killed and several others have been injured after a massive fire broke out following an explosion in a chemical factory in Palghar.  The three deceased, identified as Pintu Kumar Gautam, Janu Adaria and Alok Nath suffered severe blast impact. As per reports, the explosion took place in inside a boiler in Boisar-Tarapur industrial estate in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

The first blast occurred in Novaphene Specialties Private Limited in E-107 unit of MIDC at around 11.10 p.m on Thursday. Reports state that a total of six chemical factories were affected by the fire. Six factories- Novaphene, Unimax, Prachi, Arti, Bharat Rasayan, Darbar were affected by fire. Manjunath Singhe, Palghar SP said that the number of casualties could up, adding that the search and rescue operation is currently underway. As per initial reports, a boiler containing industrial solvent burst under high temperature and pressure.

The impact of the boiler blast was felt in the villages around 8 kms vicinity, he said. There is a fire after boiler blast in the Boisar industrial estate. Our team has reached the spot with fire brigade, Manjunath Singe, Superintendent of Police, Palghar told PTI. Meanwhile, Palghar collector Prashant Narnawre said he is monitoring the situation in Control Room of district Disaster Management.

As per reports, the factory manufactures speciality chemicals and cosmetic preservatives. These chemicals deal in high purity acid and acid anhydrides. Reports inform that from Novaphene, the fire spread to adjoining factories— Aarti Drugs, Prachi Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, Bharat Vasayan and Unimax. As per reports by NDTV, Prachi Ltd is an iodine salt manufacturer, while Aarti Drugs manufactures vitamins and antibiotics. Aarti Drug’s staffer Sunil Yadav said he heard a loud explosion while he was working at night.

Reports inform that the reverberations of the blast were strongly felt in 8-10 kilometre radius and went uptil Palghar. The blast was of such high intensity that it shattered window panes in buildings as far as three kilometers away which included Boisar police station.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2018 10:59 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).