The fire incident happened at the SVS Aqua Technologies, a company that produces chlorine dioxide tablet for water purification. Pune rural police Tuesday said that the DNA examination of the bodies of all deceased persons in the incident of fire at a private chemical factory in Mulshi taluka of Pune district is being done for their identification.
“All bodies are completely charred due to severe burns and hence cannot be identified clearly. DNA examination of all bodies will be done for identification. Blood samples of relatives will be taken,” said Abhinav Deshmukh, superintendent of Pune rural police.
The fire was reported at SVS Aqua Technologies, a factory in Urawade near Pirangut in Mulshi taluka, around 3.30 pm on Monday. Police said the company produces “chlorine dioxide tab” for water purification. It is suspected that a highly inflammable chemical inside the factory caught fire, causing the mishap. Massive fire fighting operation was carried out by the fire brigade teams of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. The fire was extinguished by around 6:30 pm on Monday. Subsequently, a cooling operation to avoid secondary fires was carried out.
While attempts are on to ascertain the exact cause behind the fire, police said that the dead bodies of 15 women and two men and also a dead body part, was recovered. Police are verifying whether the body part recovered separately belongs to another person or any of the 17 dead bodies found so far.
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Meanwhile, according to the local government administration, the 17 persons working inside the factory, who went missing and are assumed to be dead include, Archana Vaikant Kawade (36), Sachin Ghodke (24), Sangita Maruti Polekar (43), Mangal Baban Margale (29), Surekha Manohar Tupe (45), Suman Sanjay Dhebe (38), Sunita Rahul Sathe (28), Mahadevi Sanjay Ambare (40), Manda Bhausaheb Kulat (49), Trishla Sambhaji Jadhav (32), Atul Lakshman Sathe (23), Seema Sachin Borade (34), Geeta Bharat Diwadkar (41), Shital Dattatray Khopakar (43), Sarika Chandrakant Kudale (42), Dhanashree Rajaram Shelar (22), Sangitla Ulhas Gonde (43).
The officials from the Pune District administration, Pune rural police and fire department have launched a joint probe into the cause and possible negligence leading to the fire.
District collector Rajesh Deshmukh instituted an inquiry committee headed by sub-divisional magistrate, Maval, with fire officers and police officials as members, to determine the cause of the fire and to check if there were any violation of the safety measures that the plant should have been following and possible negligence leading to the fire. The committee began its probe on Tuesday morning and is expected to submit a report in a day, a senior police officer said.
“The committee will record statements of some workers who survived and some other people to establish a sequence of events, adequacy of fire safety mechanisms on factory campus and the response to the fire. Police will initiate further legal course based on the report of the committee,” an official told The Indian Express.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has announced an aid of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those who died in the fire.
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