A blast at a pharmaceutical factory in India’s Andhra Pradesh state killed 17 people and injured 34 Wednesday, police said.
District police superintendent M. Deepika said investigators believed the blast was caused by a “gas leak … which eventually hit an electrical panel.”
“Rescue operations are over” at the Escientia Advanced Sciences in the Anakapalli district, she said, and all were accounted for.
Another police official, M. Buchaiah, told the Indian Express daily newspaper that the blast left people with horrific chemical burns.
“It was horrible, heartbreaking,” he told the paper. “They were screaming before they lost consciousness.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences in a post on the X social media site.
“Pained by the loss of lives due to a mishap at a factory in Anakapalli,” he wrote. “Condolences to those who lost their near and dear ones.” He announced compensation of $2,380 to the families of those killed.
The state government has ordered an inquiry into the blast.
At least two people were killed and five others injured last year when a fire broke out at a solvent reactor of a unit of Sahithi Pharma in the same district.
Material from Agence France-Presse and Reuters was used in this report.
