A man was killed and six were injured after a boiler exploded at a private chemical factory on the outskirts of Humnabad late on Thursday night.

The incident occurred at S L Organic Chemical Industries, which supplies chemicals to pharmaceutical industries in Pune and Hyderabad. The deceased is Venkateshwara Rao Venkatanarasaiah Chowdhary (46) of Warangal district in Andhra Pradesh. He was working as a production manager at the factory. Shanthakumar of Basavakalyan taluk, who was grievously injured, is undergoing treatment at the government hospital in Humnabad. The other five workers sustained minor injuries.

The police said Sirajuddin, the owner of the factory, is absconding.