At least eight people were killed and seven injured in a blast at an ordnance factory in the western Indian state of Maharashtra yesterday, a senior federal minister said.
It was unclear what had caused the blast.
The factory is located in Bhandara district of the state, nearly 830 km (515 miles) from India’s financial capital of Mumbai, and manufactures propellants and explosives, according to local media.
“There has been a big explosion in the ordnance factory in Bhandara. According to preliminary information, eight people have died and seven have been injured,” federal transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who is from Maharashtra, said at an event in Nagpur city.
Earlier, the chief minister of the state Devendra Fadnavis said a roof in the factory had collapsed after the explosion, and that 13-14 workers were feared to be trapped inside, while five people had been rescued.
Medical and rescue teams were at the site, the chief minister said in a post on X.
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply saddened” by the blast.
Industrial disasters are common in India, with experts blaming poor planning and lax enforcement of safety rules.
Nine workers were killed in a 2023 blast at a factory in Maharashtra that manufactured drones and explosives.
