Ahmedabad, Feb 28 Three persons were reported dead and two others injured in a fire and explosion incident at a factory of a pharma products maker in Valsad district.
The incident was reported at 11.30 pm on Monday at Ven Petrochem & Pharma (India) Pvt Ltd, located at Sarigam GIDC chemical zone in Valsad district. The fire has been brought under control, but rescue operations continued for a second day on Tuesday in search for any more likely casualties.
According to police sources, a two-storey building within the factory premises collapsed following a suspected blast in one of the boilers causing the fire at the plant. “Initially four workers were suspected to be trapped under the rubble. After the rescue operations, three dead bodies were taken out from the wreckage, while the search for one more person is on,” a senior police official from Valsad police told businessline.
“The two injured have sustained minor injuries and are conscious,” the police sources said, adding that an investigation has begun into the cause of the incident.
Incorporated in 1982 with its headquarters in Mumbai, Ven Petrochem’s website wasn’t immediately accessible, but trade sources said the company was one of the producers and exporters of mucolytic agents such as bromhexine hydrochloride and ambroxol hydrochloride and timolol maleate used for eye drops.