By IANS,
Hyderabad : Two workers of a pharmaceutical company, who were injured in a fire outbreak in the factory premises Sunday, succumbed to their wounds Tuesday even as the state government ordered a probe into the incident.
Satyanarayana, 35, and Satibabu, 30, who had sustained 80 percent burns, succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.
They were injured when a major fire broke out in Siris Pharmaceuticals in the L.B. Nagar locality. Powerful explosions followed the fire in a chemical reactor in the factory, which was allegedly being run without license.
The fire broke out in the sodium methoxide unit of the bulk drug manufacturing firm. The authorities battled for over 10 hours to bring the fire under control.
Following protest from local residents and political parties, the police sealed the premises Monday and arrested chemist-cum-production incharge V.R. Raju for negligence. The police said the factory was operating without a valid license and a case had been registered against the management.
According to local residents, the firm was shut down five years ago but a couple of units for distillation of chemicals were being run illegally.
Meanwhile, the state government Tuesday ordered a probe into the incident. Minister for labour G. Vinod told reporters that senior officials of the department would probe whether the firm was operating illegally.