At least 36 dead after chemical reactor explodes in drug factory in India

More than 100 people believed to be inside factory at time of explosion

At least 36 people were killed and 36 others injured in a fire triggered by a massive explosion at a chemical facility in India's southern state of Telangana on Monday, fire department officials said.

The blaze ripped through the Sigachi Chemicals factory in Sangareddy district at 9am following a blast in the spray dryer unit used to process raw material into fine powder for making drugs at the factory.

More than 100 people were believed to be inside the factory when the explosion occurred and several were trapped inside.

The fire department, which is working round the clock at the site, has recovered 34 charred bodies of the workers from the industrial site, about 50km from the state capital, Hyderabad, the state’s fire services director G V Narayana Rao, said

Two others succumbed to burn injuries at the hospital.

More people believed to be trapped in the rubble (AP)

The fire has been controlled but the building collapsed, he said.

"We are still clearing the debris ... The building has collapsed and fabricated completely," Mr Rao, director of Telangana fire disaster response emergency, told Reuters.

"Once we are all done with the clearing, only then we will be able to assess if any other body is still remaining under the debris or if it is all clear," he said.

The fire department said debris of the gutted pharmaceutical unit of Sigachi Industries was still being removed to find out if any more workers were trapped inside.

Rescue workers look for survivors after at an explosion and a fire at a pharmaceutical factory in an industrial area in Sangareddy, some 50kms (31 miles) from Hyderabad, India (AP)

The state’s health minister, Damodar Raja Narasimha, said there were 108 workers inside the factory at the time of the explosion.

“As bodies were badly burnt and mutilated, a special medical team has been deployed to conduct DNA tests”, said Mr Narasimha.

The state government has set up a panel to investigate the cause of the incident, he said.

Industrial accidents involving fire and explosion at factories are not uncommon in India, where hundreds of workers often toil in poorly regulated, overcrowded facilities with inadequate safety measures.

In March last year, a massive explosion at a licensed firecracker unit killed 11 people, including women, in Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu. The factory was allegedly storing large quantities of raw explosives in unsafe conditions.

Six months later, a fire broke out at pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh, killing 17 people and injuring 40.

India has been hailed as the “pharmacy of the world” as it remains home to some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, playing a pivotal role in the global supply of generic medicines and vaccines.

The country’s robust manufacturing and cost-effective production have made it a hub for pharma giants.

Sigachi Industries Limited is a prominent Indian manufacturer and exporter of pharmaceutical excipients, notably active pharmaceutical ingredients, intermediates and vitamin-mineral blends, according to the company's website. It has five manufacturing facilities across India and subsidiaries in the US and the United Arab Emirates.