Four persons were killed in a boiler explosion on August 23, Monday in a small-scale condiments factory in Bengaluru. Sourabh Kumar and Manish Kumar, both of them who were in their early twenties and hailed from Bihar’s Motihari district, were charred to death. Dhanalakshmi (52) and Sachin (40), the other two present on the factory floor during the accident, succumbed to their injuries on Tuesday morning at the Victoria Hospital’s Burn Ward.

The explosion took place at 1:45 pm on Monday in the premises of MM Food Products factory located on Magadi road. The impact of the explosion was such that the asbestos sheet roof of the building was blown apart. Police said they found 15 gas cylinders inside the building. Fire and Emergency services were rushed to the spot after the explosion was reported.

Five people worked in the factory which operated in a single-storey building. The deceased Sachin was the partner in business. Another person Shanti, who was present on the floor, also suffered burn injuries. She is being treated in the same hospital. Meanwhile, the owner of the business Vijay Mehta is absconding.

DCP (West) Sanjeev Patil stated that Joint Director of Factories and Boilers Department and a team from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) had visited the explosion site and the exact cause of the explosion will be ascertained. Magadi Road police are investigating the accident.

This incident comes months after a man from Odisha succumbed to burn injuries due to an accidental fire in a Bengaluru godown in November 2020. Bijay Singh was working at Renuka Chemical Godown in New Guddadahalli, near the Deepanjali Nagar Metro Station. On November 10, 2020 a massive fire was reported in the godown which created panic among workers and residents of nearby areas. The Fire and Emergency Services personnel sent out 15 fire engines to contain the fire. 

(with IANS Inputs)