Thane chemical factory blast: 'Pure negligence' claims lives of at least 10 with over 60 injured in Dombivli area

At a chemical factory in Dombivli, Thane district, Maharashtra, on Thursday, a boiler exploded, resulting in a huge fire that left at least ten people dead and over sixty wounded. Up until Thursday night, there had been 7 deaths, but that number went up when investigators found 3 more dead on Friday.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), names of the owners of the company Malti Pradip Mehta, Mayal Pradip Mehta and other directors, management staff and officials have come up. These people were reportedly supervising the factory when the blast happened and, thus, have been booked for a "culpable homicide", among other charges.

The FIR was filed at the Manpada police station in Maharashtra's Thane district around in the early hours of Friday, that too after 12 hours after the blast had destroyed the unit of Amudan Chemicals present in in Phase 2 of Dombivli MIDC area.

The blast in the factory's boiler caused it to collapse, and the FIR claims that there may be more people buried beneath the debris.

According to the Indian Penal Code, the accused have been charged with culpable murder (section 304), intentionally inflicting harm, and reckless behaviour with flammable materials and explosive chemicals.

In addition to the IPC, the police have also brought charges under the Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Meanwhile, a man who was searching for his wife, who worked at the Amudan Chemicals factory, received a call from the nearby hospital for him to come and identify a body that was found. 

At the hospital, the man went pale after he was shown two charred bodies of women. The bodies were burnt beyond recognition. He identified his wife from her gold ring on her finger.

According to the reports, the company had failed to take the required measures and precautions over mixing of chemicals, final products and their storage even after being aware that any lapse might lead to a huge accident costing life and property, says the FIR.

According to the FIR, these mistakes caused the explosion on Thursday, which killed people both on the plant grounds and at nearby shops. According to reports, the blast's force was so great that it broke through residential window panes and damaged nearby automobiles, roadways, and electric poles.

According to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which was involved in the rescue efforts, the impacted chemical factory manufactured food colors and employed peroxides, which are extremely reactive and unstable compounds that may create severe explosions under specific conditions. This information was released on Thursday.