SANGAREDDY: The Sigachi chemical industry blast toll rose to 40 after another worker, Munmun Singh, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at a private hospital on Saturday.
At the time of the June 30 blast, 143 people were present at the unit. While 60 managed to escape, 40 were killed. Bodies of 38 victims have been identified and handed over, while two remain unidentified. Nine persons are still reported missing.
Officials said the victims hailed from Bihar (10), Odisha (9), Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal (4), Madhya Pradesh (2), and one each from Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
Debris sifting continues
Rescue teams continue to sift through debris at Sigachi Chemical Industry in search of missing persons. The debris has been shifted to an open ground, with tight security preventing outside access.
“All the bones, flesh and other materials collected on Friday were sent for forensic analysis,” Superintendent of Police Paritosh Pankaj told TNIE.
A police constable said, We are trying our best to trace the details of the missing persons, and for the third time, we are doing so in the open dump. Not even a bone or skeletal remains were left unnoticed. We are filtering everything multiple times with patience. In addition to JCB’s workers segregating material with their hands in the hope of finding out the details of the missing persons.”
Kin’s blood collected to identify victims
Authorities are collecting fresh blood samples from relatives of missing Sigachi blast victims after earlier samples failed to match two bodies.
DNA results for two remain unmatched, leading officials to contact families of victims from UP, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand.
Ramdev Singh, brother of missing worker C Singh, told TNIE: “I came here with a call from officials and went to the Patancheru hospital to provide blood samples. My brother C Singh, who works here, has been missing since the blast. He came here for employment about a month ago with the suggestion of our relative Sur Pal Singh. He was drawing about `21,000 as wages.”