At a pharmaceutical production factory in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, an explosion the day before left 17 people dead and almost 40 injured, according to a senior state official. Rescue operations there were completed on Thursday.
The explosion on Wednesday occurred at the 40-acre (16-hectare) privately owned Escientia Advanced Sciences facility in the Anakapalli district. It was the state’s biggest event of this kind in recent memory.
Rescue efforts have concluded and about forty persons were hurt, Industries Secretary N. Yuvaraj informed Reuters.
A request for response from Escientia was not immediately answered, but government representatives stated they believed there may have been an explosion at the chemical reactor.
In order to determine whether or not human error caused the explosion, officials said they were reviewing closed-circuit camera footage and speaking with the injured.
