3 Workers Killed In Blast At Chemical Factory In Maharashtra: Police

Three workers were killed and as many injured after a storage tank containing methanol exploded during welding work at a chemical factory in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Thursday, police said.

The incident took place at 11.15 am at Sadhana Nitro Chem Limited in Dhatav MIDC in Roha town, around 110 km from Mumbai, Raigad's Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge said.

"The blast occurred in the storage tank of the chemical plant," he said.

Three people, who had come from Uttar Pradesh for fabrication at the chemical plant, died in the blast, another official said.

They were doing welding work when the storage tank, containing highly flammable methanol, blew up due to a spark.

Basuki Yadav (45), Dineshkumar Kharban (60) and Sanjeevkumar (20) died in the explosion, the official said.

Three more workers who were near the scene sustained burns, he said.

The injured ones were initially taken to the state-run hospital in Roha before being shifted to the National Burns Centre at Airoli in Navi Mumbai.

After being alerted, the fire brigade and local police personnel rushed to the spot and doused, within half an hour, the fire that broke out after the blast, he said.

Bodies of the three dead men were sent for autopsies, the official said, adding that the search and firefighting operation was underway at the factory.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)