Explosion in pharma unit kills one

According to police, the blast brought down a nearby wall and triggered a fire in the boiler division of Vidya Herbals.

Three workers sustained grievous injuries as the wall collapsed on them. Raghu, an employee from Bomm­a- l­in­ganahalli in Hanagal taluk, succumbed to injuries in a hospital. Tufan, another worker from Assam, and Kuber from Haveri district are under treatment.

The fire, suspected to have been triggered by a shortcircuit, destroyed chemicals stored in the factory. Bannerghatta police inspector Vishwanath said there were not many workers at the unit when the incident occurred.

A complaint of negligence has been registered against the owner of the factory. Fire and Emergency Services officer G H Ravishankar said fire safety measures had not been adopted at the unit. It took about six hours to douse the flames.