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15 die in paper factory blast
01/05/2006 16:09 - (SA)
Lucknow - A powerful blast at a northern Indian paper factory sparked a blaze on Monday, killing 15 workers and leaving hundreds trapped, said police.
At least 50 others were injured in the blast and fire at the factory in the town of Udham Singh Nagar in India's Uttaranchal state, said police official Amit Kumar Sinha. The injured had been taken to local hospitals, he said.
A statement from Amit Chandola of the state government said 15 people had died, but it did not mention the number of injured.
"The blast took place in the factory when hundreds of workers were working the evening shift. The whole area caught fire after the blast," said Sinha.
"So far nine bodies have been recovered. The toll may go up."
The town is about 400km northwest of the region's largest city, Lucknow, capital of the neighboring Uttar Pradesh state.
Chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari, the state's top elected official, had ordered an inquiry into the blast, said the government.
Sinha said the blast happened in the sodium tank of a private paper factory, and firefighters and volunteers were trying to rescue the trapped workers.
Local parliamentarian Harbhajan Singh Cheema said: "It could be heard five kilometres away. Immediately afterwards, the warehouse and factory caught fire.
"The situation here is bad; the relatives of the workers have reached the site and are crying."
Hundreds of people die each year in India in industrial accidents.
Health, safety and pollution-control measures are lax at most small-scale industrial units and government inspectors are often bribed to prevent penalties.
- AP
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