Solvent leak could have triggered fire in AP pharma unit, says official, ET HealthWorld

Atchutapuram: A suspected solvent leakage could have triggered a blaze in a pharma unit here that has killed 17 persons, a senior official said on Thursday. Anakapalli district Collector Vijaya Krishnan told PTI there was no rise in the death toll which stood at 17 following the accident on Wednesday.

“The actual cause is yet to be ascertained,” she said, adding preliminary assessment pointed to solvent leakage from a pipe which fell on an electric panel, leading to the fire accident.

Though it is being reported the accident occurred due to a reactor blast, officials said when solvent oil was being pumped from one floor to another it led to leakage and resulted in a blaze followed by a large explosion, according to a post on ‘X’ by the Office of the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Konidala Pawan Kalyan.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will meet those injured in the pharma unit fire accident in Visakhapatnam and follow it up with a visit to the accident spot here.

According to the official schedule, Naidu will interact with the injured workers undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Venkojipalem in the port city around noon and also the medical teams.

Later, he will visit Escientia Advanced Sciences Pvt Ltd, the pharma company where the fire accident occurred, leading to the death of 17 persons and injuries to 33.

Several relatives of the affected workers continue to wait anxiously at the pharma company, eager to know the fate of their loved ones.

“I want my father back and this company removed…,” a minor girl told a vernacular news channel, referring to her father, who was employed in the firm.

The sister of a victim complained that authorities were not showing where her brother was while a sobbing elderly woman demanded the return of her son-in-law.

Harrowing scenes unfolded with injured workers — their skin ripped and peeling off, bodies soaked in blood — being shifted to hospitals in ambulances after the incident occurred at 2:15 pm on Wednesday at Escientia Advanced Science Pvt Ltd.

The company, which manufactures intermediate chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) commenced production in April 2019 with an investment of Rs 200 crore.

It is located on a 40-acre campus in the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation’s multi-product SEZ at the Atchutapuram cluster.