Reactor blast leads to fire at Nagarjuna Agrichem plant; 20 injured

At least 20 workers were injured, five of them seriously, when a reactor at the Nagarjuna Agrichem plant at Chilakapalem in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh exploded in the morning today.

Reports said the reactor in block No 5 of the Nagarjuna Agrichem plant exploded at around 9 am, causing a huge fire in the factory.

However, it was tea-break and so most of the workers were in the canteen, but those who were inside the factory at that time were injured.

While official figures put the number of injured at 17, sources said the number could be around 20, if not higher.

Sources said around 200 workers were present at the time of the accident.

Those injured were taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences nearby. The condition of some of those injured are said to be critical.