5 injured in blast at pharma unit in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam, Feb 24: Five workers were injured in a blast in the Hetero Drugs plant in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam district, police said on Thursday. The condition of two of the injured is stated to be critical and they were admitted to a hospital in Visakhapatnam. The incident occurred at the pharmacy company's plant in Nakkapallion Wednesday night.

The blast occurred at a reactor and the workers working there were injured as the blast triggered a fire which engulfed the entire area. Fire tenders rushed to the scene and doused the fire. Following the incident, the management stopped the operations in the plant.

Three of the injured were admitted to a local hospital while two others were shifted to Visakhapatnam and their condition is stated to be critical. Meanwhile, CITU leaders demanded that the company management provide information to workers and pay compensation to the families of the injured. The unit had also witnessed an explosion in 2016, killing one employee and injuring two others.