3 killed, several injured after multiple blasts at Palghar chemical factory, tremors felt over 5 kilometers away

• Three people were killed and several injured after a massive explosion took place at a chemical factory in Tarapur,  (MIDC) area in Maharashtra.
• The blast took place at 11.15 pm at the Novaphene Specialties private limited in E-107 unit.
• Rescue operations are underway to douse the fire as the entire area has been cordoned off.

At least three people were killed and several injured after a massive explosion took place at a chemical factory in Tarapur, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area in Palghar District late Thursday, March 8, night. Three workers are in a critical condition as the fire reportedly broke out after a boiler containing industrial solvent burst due to the high pressure and temperature inside the chemical factory. 

The blast took place at 11.15 pm at the Novaphene Specialties private limited in E-107 unit. The fire eventually spread to three neighbouring factories — Aarti Drugs, Prachi Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, Bharat Vasayan and Unimax, The Indian Express reported.

Rescue operations are underway to douse the fire and the entire area has been cordoned off by the authorities. The police, medical, and fire teams are involved to bring the situation under control.  

 "There are rumours of deaths of a labourer. So far no worker has died in the mishap. The industry officials have not confirmed whether a night shift was on or if labourers were inside. Nobody has died so far," the IE quoted Manjunath Singhe, Police superintendent of Palghar, as saying. 

The reverberations of the explosion were so intense that many people believed it was an earthquake and they stepped outside their homes late on Thursday night. According to reports, locals believed that the explosion sounded like a "huge bomb."

"The blast was so massive, windows in police station shattered. I was in my house, which is five km from the spot and our window panes started shaking by the impact," a Boisar police station official told the daily. 

Fire tenders and disaster management teams were rushed to the spot soon after the fire broke out. The injured factory workers were taken to the nearby government hospitals in Palghar.