VISAKHAPATNAM: One person died and one other injured in a major fire mishap at Visakha Solvents in Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Parawada, Visakhapatnam late Monday night.
The deceased was identified as K Srinivas Rao, a 40-year-old chemist hailing from Ananakapalle in Visakhapatnam district.
CEO of pharma city Lal Krishna told The New Indian Express that Srinivas died on the spot and his remains were found after the fire was put out.
It took nearly seven hours for six fire tenders including those from NTCP and district fire services to put out the fire.
A heavy downpour at night further prevented the fire from spreading across to nearby units.
There are around 85 industrial units in the proximity to Visakha Solvent.
The accident, which took place around 10:30 p.m. on Monday night was the second such incident within a fortnight.
Two people had died in the blast at Sainor Pharma in the Pharma city, located near Visakhapa solvent.
Though there is no official word out at yet as to the reasons for the mishap, static electricity is suspected to be the cause.
Sounds of about 15 blasts were heard for several kilometers and the fire was visible from afar.
Thick smoke was seen billowing from as far as 15 km away, locals said.
At the time of the accident, six people were reported to be on the premises and five of them successfully escaped.
The Visakha Solvents company recovers waste solvents generated from pharma units. The fire broke out in one of the columns during the recovery process.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita inquired about the incident and directed the police officials to provide better medical care for the injured.