Palghar chemical factory blast: Death toll hikes to 8; Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray announces Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia

The death toll in the chemical factory blast, that took place at Boisar in Palghar district in Maharashtra on Saturday, has hiked to 8, confirmed police officials. Earlier, it was reported that as many as five people were killed in a huge explosion that took place at the chemical factory. Several others are injured and at least six of them are in a grave condition, sources stated, after the massive blast ripped through the chemical factory.

Maharashtra's Palgarh district is nearly 100 km from Mumbai. The blast took place at an under-construction plant of Ank Pharma in Kolwade village near Boisar around 7.20 PM, PTI reported.

Police said the blast so huge that it was heard within a 15-km radius. Local witnesses said that the intensity of the explosion was audible in a 35-km range. Several people thought it was an earthquake since power lines were also disrupted. Many homes in the immediate vicinity were shaken and one building in the factory has collapsed.

Police and top Palgarh district administration officials had soon arrived at the scene and launched the rescue operation. Fire Brigade teams from Boisar MIDC industrial area and Tarapur Atomic Power Station had been engaged in dousing the flames.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has already announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of those killed in the accident. A statement from his office said that the Chief Minister was monitoring the rescue work and that the district administration had been instructed to provide full medical assistance to the injured.