SSG Hospital superintendent Kamal Pathak said while the 18 surviving workers were steadily developing asthma syndromes, four of them were shifted to the Intensive Care Unit on Thursday as they were in danger of acquiring the more serious Acute Respiratory Disorder Syndrome. ``Once ARDS sets in one's lungs, they become full of fluid and that is mostly fatal'', he said but maintained that the four were not in danger.

Recognising the complex nature of the tragedy, District Collector Anil Mukim ordered, during the day, a magisterial inquiry during into the incident. He said the sub-divisional magistrate would be submitting his report in a month's time. Senior Factories Inspector B P Parmar told Express Newsline that the affected section of the company had been shut down for another couple of days as his investigation was in progress. He said he had sent the samples of the debris for tests.

The news of today's death came as a surprise because the management and its representatives at the hospital had maintained, in its press notes, that all those who had survived the blast were in good health.

Distressingly, there appeared to be a wall of disinformation built around the entire issue by the company. Its executives not only sought to prevent this reporter from talking to the kin of the patients but also sought to spread the impression that all was well. This created a bizarre situation at around 6-30 p.m.: When asked how the survivors were, this reporter was told by these executives that, though none had been discharged, all 19 were doing fine. Minutes later, though, he received information that one person had died at around noon.

The executives, who refused to reveal their identity, said company chairman Atul Shroff was the only person authorised to talk. When contacted, Shroff regretted the ``lack of communication'' among the company officials but held that it was probably being done to boost the morale of other patients. He also said that a couple of workers would be shifted to a ``better equipped private hospital on Friday''.

The incident has invited sharp reactions from several quarters in the city. Raopura MLA Yogesh Patel, in a memorandum to the District Collector, said the company should be shut down till all its plants were thoroughly examined and equipment changed where necessary. He alleged that the effluents released from the factory had affected natural wells and borewells in the surrounding areas in Atladra. He said those found to have erred in the incident should be arrested. he Vadodara Kamdar Union and Gujarat General Kamdar Panchayat called for an overall survey of chemical factories in and around Vadodara.