PUNE: Fifteen women and three men were burned to death and two others injured in a devastating fire that broke out at a mid-sized industrial plant at Urawade village near Pirangut in Mulshi taluka, about 25km from here, around 3.45pm on Monday.
“The victims were trapped inside by the blaze at SVS Aqua Technologies plant,” Mulshi’s tehsildar Abhay Chavan told TOI.
In a picture given by a bystander, the walls of the plant are seen broken to give access to the rescuersAll the 18 victims, most of them local residents of Mulshi taluka, were traced by 8.30pm and the bodies sent to the Sassoon General Hospital for identification and postmortem.
The bodies were burned beyond recognition, the authorities said.
The company manufactures, supplies and exports air, water and surface treatment chemicals, systems and solutions.
It was founded in1987 and incorporated in 2012, its website said.
Deputy chief minister and district guardian minister Ajit Pawar on Monday night said the state government will offer financial assistance of Rs5 lakh to the victims’ kin.
Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh, who went to the site with revenue and police officials, ordered an inquiry.
A panel of experts from Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), police, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and the electrical department will gauge what caused the inferno.
“We will wait for the inquiry panel’s preliminary report before further action,” Pune rural superintendent of police Abhinav Deshmukh said.
“A case of accidental death is being registered.
The company officials are with us in searching for victims.
We are investigating the matter,” he added.
Nikunj Shah, a top company official, said, “We have shifted two injured to hospital.
Ours is a chemical plant.
We are ascertaining the cause of the fire.” Sagar Shah, company’s export executive, said they have done a fire audit of the unit and there was no negligence on their part.
“We had taken enough precautions.
What led to the fire will be known after the inquiry,” he added.