Mother-daughter among 4 killed in boiler blast in Vadodara factory

Four people, including a mother-daughter, were killed in a boiler blast at Canton Laboratories in Vadodara district of Gujarat on Friday morning.

Sixteen others were injured in the incident.

The blast was so massive that it destroyed the entire boiler crushing many.

The fire fighters arrived and controlled the fire. The blast was so massive that the walls of surrounding houses came crashing down and the glasses of buildings around 1.5 kms shattered. The Vadodara police and the 108 ambulance reached the spot. The injured were rushed to hospitals.

"The blast occurred around 8.45 a.m. this morning. Since we were inside the plant, we do not know how it occurred. The company had built residential units adjoining the boiler. We have rushed all the injured to private hospitals," said Tejas Patel, the owner of the Canton Laboratories in Vadodara.

According to Dr Karanraj Vaghela, the DCP Zone two, Vadodara police: "The massive blast and the fire in Canton Laboratories in the morning has killed four people, two male and two female, including a mother and daughter. Around sixteen others have been injured, who have been admitted in hospitals. We are investigating the incident."

"The company building it's residential units adjoining the boiler is indeed an irregularity and negligence, for which we will be taking action against. Right now we have called the FSL and are investigating the accident," said Shamshersingh, the Vadodara police Commissioner.

Canton Laboratories is based in Vadodara, manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). This is the second such incident in a span of eight days that has killed more than ten people in Gujarat.

On December 16, a similar factory blast had killed seven persons and injured several in Panchmahal district.

--IANS

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