Vijayawada: Five injured, 1 worker missing as huge fire breaks out at chemical factory

Vijayawada: One worker went missing and five others sustained severe injuries in a major fire that broke out at a chemical factory at Pentapadu village of Prattipadu mandal in West Godavari district on Wednesday.

The panicked workers ran out of the factory soon after the blast took place with a deafening sound. Five injured workers were shifted to the local area hospital in ambulances. The exact reason for the blast is not yet known. According to information, mishap took place at the Food Fats and Fertilisers factory due to explosion in a boiler. Thick smoke billowed out soon after the blast took place. The factory manufactures chemical solvent oil.

One worker from Jagannathapuram village reportedly went missing. Five workers were critically wounded in the mishap and they were shifted to the area hospital.

The injured persons were identified as Kondaveeti Charan Kumar, Patavuru village of Tadepalligudem town, Konada Nagababu of Tanuku, Muppidi Ramakrishna of Tadepalligudem rural mandal, Paluri Durga Prasad of Alampuram and Sunil Kumar of Jharkhand. One person Mallikarjuna (35) is reportedly missing since the fire broke out in the factory blast. Sunil Kumar who hails from Jharkhand sustained serious head injuries.

Civil Supplies Minister Karumuri Nageswara Rao and West Godavari SP Ravi Prakash visited the site of the mishap. Fire tenders from Tadepalligudem and Tanuku were pressed into service to extinguish the fire.