8 dead, 3 missing in Raigad pharmaceutical company fire

Mumbai: A day after a massive explosion and fire at a pharmaceutical company in Maharashtra's Raigad district, eight bodies were recovered till Saturday afternoon from the company site. The officials said that the search was on for three missing persons.

Explosion followed by fire was reported in at Blue Jet Healthcare in MIDC (industrial zone), Mahad at 11am on Friday. During the search and rescue efforts, it became apparent that at least 11 individuals who were on the premises at the time of the incident were missing.

“At the time of the fire, around 57 people were inside of whom 46 were safe. Of the 46, seven have suffered minor injuries and are undergoing treatment,” Raigad collector Yogesh Mhase said.

On Friday night, a NDRF team from Pune was asked to reach the factory for rescue operations.

"While four bodies were found till 7am, another four were recovered till 5pm. These are part of the 11 persons who had gone missing following the fire. Search operations with personnel from local agencies as well as NDRF for the remaining three continue," an official said.

As per initial probe, the fire may have started due to a short circuit, leading to barrels filled with chemicals at the site exploding, which further intensified the blaze, the official said.