Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu to visit pharma unit accident site, interact with injured people

Atchutapuram, Andhra Pradesh: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will meet those injured in the pharma unit fire accident in Visakhapatnam on Thursday and follow it up with a visit to the accident spot.

According to the official schedule, the Chief Minister will interact with the injured workers undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Venkojipalem in the port city around noon and also the medical teams.

Later, Naidu will visit Escientia Advanced Sciences Pvt Ltd around 1.30 pm, the pharma company where the fire accident occurred on Wednesday, leading to the death of 17 persons and injuries to 33.

Meanwhile, Anakapalli district Collector Vijaya Krishnan told PTI that there was no rise in the death toll which stood at 17.

"The actual cause is yet to be ascertained," she said, adding preliminary assessment pointed to solvent leakage from a pipe which fell on an electric panel, leading to the fire accident.

Though it is being reported that the accident occurred due to a reactor blast, officials said when solvent oil was being pumped from one floor to another it led to leakage and resulted in a blaze followed by a large explosion, according to a post on X by the Office of the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Konidala Pawan Kalyan.

Several relatives of the affected workers continue to wait anxiously at the pharma company, eager to know the fate of their loved ones.

"I want my father back and this company to be removed...," a minor girl told a vernacular news channel, referring to her father, who was employed in the firm.

The sister of a victim complained that authorities were not showing where her brother was while a sobbing elderly woman demanded the return of her son-in-law.

Harrowing scenes unfolded with injured workers -- their skin ripped and peeling off, bodies soaked in blood -- being shifted to hospitals in ambulances after the incident occurred at 2:15 pm on Wednesday at Escientia Advanced Science Pvt Ltd.

The company, which manufactures intermediate chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) commenced production in April 2019 with an investment of Rs 200 crore.

It is located on a 40-acre campus in the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation's multi-product SEZ at the Atchutapuram cluster.