Another victim of the Dera Bassi pharmaceutical company blaze succumbed to injuries at PGIMER in Chandigarh on late Saturday night. With the death of Nemi Sharma,Production Manager of the company,the total death toll has reached three while two other severely burnt victims are still struggling for life at the hospital. It was around 5.50 pm on Tuesday that a major fire had engulfed the premises of Anuja Health Care,a pharmaceutical company situated at Industrial Focal Point in Dera Bassi,leaving five company employees injured with burn injuries and gutting the building,machinery and chemical worth lakhs of rupees. While Ram Shakal (40) and Mohan Sharma (35),both helpers,had succumbed to their burns on Wednesday,Kapal Kumar (25),employed as chemist and BD Bani,General Manager,were still in a critical condition. The incident had taken place in the production plant of the company situated on the second floor of the building,where a reactor had suddenly burst due to over-steaming and some chemical-filled drums placed near the reactor quickly caught fire. Four fire tenders each from Dera Bassi and Chandigarh had taken two hours to extinguish the fire with the help of loads of foam. The local police had booked the companys management on the charges of causing deaths by negligence and endangering the lives and personal safety of its employees but no arrests were confirmed as yet.
