PATNA: Seven people were killed and five others were seriously wounded in an explosion in the boiler of an industrial unit located at Bela Industrial Area in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Sunday.
The blast took place at around 9.45 am when labourers were engaged in work at the noodles and snack manufacturing factory at Bela Industrial Area, Phase II. The explosion was so powerful that its tremor was felt in a radius of two kilometres while there were reports of damages in some nearby buildings.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a probe and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in the accident. Later, the Prime Minister approved compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the deceased while the injured would be given Rs 50,000 each.
While five bodies were extricated from the debris, two succumbed to their injuries at a hospital. Two victims — Sandeep Kumar and Vinod Rai from Musahari in Muzaffarpur district — were identified so far, Muzaffarpur Sadar Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Gyan Prakash said.
“We all were engaged in work when there was suddenly a loud explosion. People ran helter-skelter for safety. We also got injured in the process. What happened thereafter is not known to us,” said Dipesh and Pankaj Kumar.
District magistrate Pranav Kumar said a rescue team from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the district administration were involved in the rescue work at the site of explosion. Police and fire department helped the SDRF team.
Expressing shock, industries minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain those found gulity would not be spared.Revenue and land reforms department minister Ram Surat Kumar met the injured people at a hospital and assured them of providing treatment free of cost.