Two persons died and two injured in an accident in Smilax Laboratories in the Pharma City on Friday.

The two dead were identified as Ajay Kumar, a chemist from Bobbili, and D Satyanadh, a helper from Odisha.

The two injured have been shifted to a hospital.

According to Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories KBS Prasad, the incident reportedly occurred around 1.30 am on Friday. The initial inquiry showed that there was a power-cut around 11.45 pm on Thursday in the unit, and at that time the air-conditioning system tripped and got switched off.

At around 1.30 am on Friday, Ajay and Satyanadh entered the clean room where there was a leakage of methylene dichloride, which they inhaled and fell unconscious.

According to him, as the air-conditioner was not working, the room was filled with MDC fumes, and the oxygen levels were down. “After some time another person entered the room and fell unconscious. All the three were pulled out by co-workers after some time and shifted to a hospital, where Ajay and Satyanadh were declared as brought dead and another was admitted and is being treated,” said Parawada Circle Inspector Raghuveer Vishnu.

According to Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories, the incident reportedly occurred due to negligence of the workers. “From the initial investigation it looks like the workers present did not follow the standard procedure of switching on the A-C, after the power was restored. If the A-C was working, the toxic fumes would have been sucked out and the room would have been filled with fresh oxygen,” he alleged.

It was the second accident in two days. On Thursday, 32-year-old Ch Sridhar died and two others were hospitalised after allegedly inhaling poisonous gas at Vijayasri Organics in Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City.