The toll in the fire at a pharmaceutical factory in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalli district on Wednesday rose to 17, The Times of India reported. Thirty-three persons were injured in the incident.
Vijaya Krishnan, the Anakapalli district collector, said the fire at the Escientia Advanced Sciences facility in the Achutapuram Special Economic Zone broke out around 2 pm.
Krishnan denied that the factory’s chemical reactor had exploded, PTI reported.
The fire may have been caused by faulty electrical machinery, the news agency quoted unidentified officials as saying.
The district collector said that 13 persons who were inside the factory at the time of the accident were rescued. The injured persons were taken to the district’s NTR Hospital.
The blaze reportedly broke out during lunchtime when most staffers were not at work, averting a bigger disaster.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident, The Hindu reported. State minister Nara Lokesh expressed shock and said that the Andhra Pradesh government will support the families of those who had died in the fire.
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