VIJAYAWADA: The death toll in the explosion at Porus Laboratories in Akkireddygudem of Musunuru mandal on April 13 rose to eight after a 46-year-old worker from Ramanakkapeta Village in Musunuru Mandal of Eluru district died while undergoing treatment on Thursday.
The health condition of 10 others, who also suffered severe burns, remained critical and were undergoing treatment at a private hospital. Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended at Ramanakkapeta following the death of Nageswara Rao. He is survived by his wife and two children. Police said that Rao joined the unit almost a decade ago. The deceased suffered severe injuries in the blast. Rao’s body was handed over to his family members.
Meanwhile, the police are strictly enforcing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in Akkireddygudem to restrict people from gathering and staging protests in front of Porus Laboratories and prevent any untoward incident. Three teams of special party police were deployed in the village to prevent the locals from forcefully entering the factory premises. The prohibitory orders will remain in place until the officials submit a report on the fire accident.
The incident happened following a gas leak at a unit of Porus Laboratories. Blockage in the pressure valve during a chemical reaction to manufacture phthalic anhydride using methylamine gas led to the explosion in the stainless steel reactor, a preliminary investigation taken up by police and fire personnel revealed.