Telangana factory tragedy: Toll rises to 42 at Sigachi; 8 still missing
HYDERABAD: The death toll in the Sigachi Industries blast rose to 42 on Sunday after Jitendra Kumar (30) from Uttar Pradesh succumbed to his injuries and mutilated body parts of a worker were identified as that of Chikkan Singh (Madhya Pradesh) following a DNA match with family members. Both were operators in the production unit.Following the identification of Chikkan Singh, the missing person’s count now stands at 8. “Of the 33 injured, 14 have been discharged from the hospital, while 18 continue to be under treatment in various hospitals in city,” Sigachi Industries said in a statement. The company said of the 143 people present at the time of the accident, 61 were safe.44 body parts found at blast site so farKumar had suffered over 75% burns in the June 30 explosion that ripped through the dryer unit of the firm in Sangareddy. Kumar is the fourth worker to die while undergoing treatment over the past five days. Singh’s identity came to light after some human remains retrieved from site matched with DNA samples collected from his father, two brothers and sister.On Sunday, two other DNA samples matched with the two bodies lying unidentified at the govt hospital mortuary in Patancheru. They have been identified as D Ramanjaneyulu from AP and Mothukuri Akhil from Telangana. Both were Sigachi employees and worked as operators in the production and quality departments, respectively.“We have completed identification process of all the 38 bodies at the mortuary. Arrangements have been made for transportation of the two remaining bodies to their native places,” said Dr Srinivas Reddy, hospital superintendent.Work on clearing the debris, meanwhile, is still underway with SDRF, NDRF, and HYDRAA teams retrieving mutilated body parts, internal organs and identity cards of the victims. They are being sent to the Telangana Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for DNA analysis. At least 44 body parts, including legs, fingers, have been found so far.“Of these, five were in the waste stage as they were burnt with plastic and reduced to ashes. This is posing a challenge to forensics team and they are asking the search teams to look for tissues, bones and other parts in a better state,” said a fire department official.
