Bharuch chemical unit blast: five workers dead, toxic MDC gas leak follows
Bharuch: Five workers were killed and five others injured after an explosion ripped through a chemical manufacturing unit in Gujarat's Bharuch district late on Friday night, officials said on Saturday.
The blast occurred at around 10 p.m. on October 16 at SynZeal Pharmachem in the Saykha industrial area of Vagra taluka, according to Bharuch Sub-Divisional Magistrate Manisha Manani. The unit, which manufactures pharmaceutical intermediates, began operations in Saykha about a year ago.
Ms. Manani said the explosion is suspected to have occurred during a hydrogenation process and was powerful enough to tear apart the reactor tank, scattering machinery parts across the premises.
A senior official of the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) said the blast also triggered a leak of methylene dichloride (MDC), an industrial solvent widely used in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Exposure to high concentrations of MDC can cause dizziness, nausea and, in severe cases, damage to the nervous system and respiratory tract.
Superintendent of Police Akshyaraj Makwana said the deceased were Jaydeep Maheshbhai Patel and Bhavik Dilipkumar Vasava, both from Amod; Vrund Talaviya from Talala in Gir Somnath district; and Aniket Harilal Gautam and Arjunkumar Ramsingh Gautam, both natives of Uttar Pradesh.
The injured workers — Pavankumar Ramsingh Gautam, Mausamkumar Ramsevak Yadav, Shivdayal Ramavatar Yadav, Pratik Pravin Prajapati and Priyanshu Bahadurlal, who hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — are undergoing treatment, Mr. Makwana said.
Teams from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, DISH and the district police reached the site after the incident, and officials said the cause of the explosion is still being investigated. No findings have been made public so far, and officials have not commented on whether any prior safety concerns had been raised about the unit.
The Saykha Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) estate is among the newer industrial clusters in Bharuch district, developed to accommodate chemical and pharmaceutical units shifting into the region. Gujarat is one of the country's largest producers of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and its industrial estates have recorded a number of accidents in recent years, repeatedly drawing attention to the enforcement of safety norms.
Units handling hazardous substances are required under the Factories Act, 1948 and the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989 to maintain prescribed safety protocols, carry out risk assessments, inform workers of the hazards they face, and report accidents to the authorities. The rules also require periodic inspection by state safety and pollution regulators.
The names of the deceased and injured were released by the district police. Families of the victims are yet to receive any official communication on compensation, and no announcement has been made so far.
The incident has revived concerns about working conditions in the region's chemical clusters. The police have registered the case and further updates are expected once the investigation into the cause of the blast is completed.
