Blast at Vasai industrial unit kills 3

Owner, manager of unit making aluminium profiles booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Three workers were killed and two severely injured in an explosion at an industrial unit in Vasai on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at Nakoda Extrusion, an aluminium profiles manufacturing unit at Sheetal Swapna Industrial Estate in Bhoidapada, Vasai (East) at around 7.45 am.

The five labourers were waiting for the supervisor to open the unit at 8 am.

Waliv Police said to make profiles, aluminium had to be heated to 200 degrees and boilers kept running for three nights a week. This, they said, caused the explosion explosion. "Prima facie it appears pressure in the boilers increased, causing the explosion," said Deepak Devraj, DSP, Thane (Rural).

Sources, however, said there was a strong LPG odour and the blast could have occurred due to use of illegal cylinders.

Police said the explosion blew the labourers away. While Sudhir Yadav (33) and Nirmal (34) were declared dead on arrival at Platinum Hospital in Vasai, Kanhaiya (30) died during treatment. Praful's legs were fractured, while Kailash suffered severe eye injuries.

Kailash said, "It was a deafening explosion. Within seconds, everything was blank before me." Devraj said the unit did not have fire-fighting equipment.

Police have registered a case under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 338 (causing grievous hurt) against unit owner Jeevan Jain and manager Jeetubhai Chanchad.

"No arrests have been made yet," said Devraj. "We are investigating all possible angles," said a senior officer.

Explosion theories

Police said pressure in boilers used to heat aluminium to 200 degrees increased, causing the explosion

Sources, however, said there was a strong LPG odour and the blast could have occurred due to use of illegal cylinders

ALSO READ

Campus placements: IIT Bombay targets 100 companies in phase-II

‘Babasaheb Ambedkar a prisoner of caste politics, his relevance will grow’: Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar

From anger to anguish

We deal with birth and death daily, but some deaths leave a void, say doctors