Eight people were injured in a blast at a Vadodara factory on Thursday, which sent flames leaping into the air, visible from the highway around 10 km away.
According to the police, the blast took place at Deepak Nitrite in Vadodara’s Nandesari area around 5 pm, followed by a fire. The eight injured are employees who were inside the premises at the time of the explosion.
A fire official said the blast was in a boiler of the chemical plant.
The injured employees were taken to a private hospital even as 15 fire tenders rushed to bring the blaze under control.
Three of the eight injured were pronounced critical and taken to SSG hospital, where a team of 15 doctors has been deployed to attend to them in the emergency ward.
Eight fire tenders are continuously working on bringing the fire under control, which has engulfed a major part of the premises, fire officials said.
The fire continued to rage even after two hours of operations. According to officials, ‘mild, intermittent sounds of explosion’ could also be heard inside the plant.
A police officer said, “We are yet to ascertain how many persons were inside the premises when the blast happened. The fire and rescue teams will be able to ascertain casualties only after sanitising the premises after the fire is completely doused.”
