An explosion in a chemical reactor tore through a pharmaceutical plant in southern India on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, setting off a fire and, by that evening’s count, killing at least seven workers with some 50 injured. Officials warned the toll could rise, with some of the injured in critical condition. Here is what it means in plain terms: a midday leak inside one of India’s many bulk-drug factories turned a lunch break into a mass-casualty event.
The blast struck during the lunch break at Escientia, a privately held pharmaceutical company in the Atchutapuram Special Economic Zone in Anakapalli district, Andhra Pradesh. Roughly 300 employees were on site when the reactor blew; the timing spared many, since workers were away from the lines eating. Two of the dead were identified that day as Pudi Mohan and N. Harika. The injured, many with severe chemical burns, were rushed to hospitals in Anakapalle and Visakhapatnam, and an officer at the scene described victims’ “skin peeling off”. A witness, M Buchaiah, said “It was horrible, heartbreaking. They were screaming before they lost consciousness,”
What caused it? Industries Secretary N Yuvaraj said the initial investigation showed “there was some vapour leak that led to chemical reactions, which caused the explosion”. The factory, a 40-acre (16-hectare) unit that began operating in 2019, employs some 380 people across two shifts and makes intermediate chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Thick smoke hampered rescue work; fire engines from Anakapalli and nearby regions were deployed, and the National Disaster Response Force joined the effort.
The plant sits in a special economic zone set up in 2009 and now hosting more than 200 companies, and this was the third reactor explosion there, following a similar incident at Vasantha Chemicals in July that killed a 44-year-old migrant worker. A local politician, L Srinivas Rao, put the human cost plainly: “The workers who died or were injured do the most crucial and dangerous jobs,”
Politicians moved quickly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “Pained by the loss of lives due to a mishap at a factory in Anakapalle.” His office announced payments of Rs 2 lakh for each bereaved family and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief and ordered an inquiry, with officials reviewing security-camera footage and interviewing the injured over whether human error was to blame. The practical upshot for India’s pharma belt, which supplies much of the world’s medicines, is a fresh accounting of why its most dangerous jobs are done by its least protected workers.
Sources
- Andhra Pradesh: Death toll rises to 17 in reactor blast that occurred at Anakapalli
- At least 17 killed in blast at pharma factory in India | News | Al Jazeera
- Andhra Pradesh Reactor Blast: 7 Killed, 50 Injured At Escientia Pharma Unit In Anakapalle (News24)
