Thane: Two dead, six injured in Ulhasnagar plant blast

The remains of the tanker that exploded in the factory premises on Saturday. Pic/Navneet Barhate

An explosion at a leading yarn manufacturing plant in Ulhasnagar left two workers dead and six injured, while two others are still missing.

According to officials, the incident occurred at around 11.30 am at the Century Rayon factory in Ulhasnagar, while Carbon Disulphide (CS2), a highly volatile and flammable liquid compound, was being filled in tanks already containing nitrogen. Officials said that the shock waves of the blast were felt up to two kilometres in the area, right up to the railway track crossing in Shahad.

"The explosion led to immediate death of two workers, while six were injured. Two workers are still untraceable," said company spokesperson Mehul Lalka.

The deceased have been identified as Shailesh Yadav and Rajesh Srivastav, while Sagar Zalte, Pandit More, Prakash Nikam, Hansraj Sarod, Amit Bharnuke and Mohammed Arman have sustained severe injuries. They are currently under treatment at a medical facility operated by the company.

Meanwhile, Pawan Yadav and Anant Dingore are still missing and rescue teams are sifting through the debris left by the explosion in order to locate them. Century Rayon is a leading player in the filament yarn market in India, operated by the Grasim Industries Limited, a company that is owned by the Aditya Birla Group.