Five dead, 92 injured in Mumbai chemical factory blast
Rescue personnel work at the site of an explosion at a chemical factory in an industrial area in Dombivali on the outskirts of Mumbai, India May 26, 2016.REUTERS/DANISH SIDDIQUI---Rescue personnel work at the site of an explosion at a chemical factory in an industrial area in Dombivali on the outskirts of Mumbai, India May 26, 2016.REUTERS/DANISH SIDDIQUI
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the site of an explosion at a chemical factory in an industrial area in Dombivali on the outskirts of Mumbai, India May 26, 2016.REUTERS/DANISH SIDDIQUI--A man sits next to his daughter, who was injured in an explosion at a chemical factory in an industrial area, at a hospital in Dombivali on the outskirts of Mumbai, India May 26, 2016.
Thu May 26, 2016
A powerful blast in a chemical factory located near a residential area in a Mumbai suburb killed five people and left 92 injured on Thursday, police officials said.
The factory building collapsed after the fire and residents living nearby complained of breathing problems from the smell of the gas that was released, police and residents said.
"First we thought it was an earthquake, the way our building was shaking," said Sumedh Joshi, who lives about a mile away from the factory. "Our window panes shattered due to the blast and we quickly came out of our building."
Twenty fire brigades and 15 ambulances were sent for the rescue operation, one police official said.
"We are investigating the reason behind the explosion," local police official Ashutosh Dumbare told Reuters, adding that a disaster response team was trying to rescue several people trapped underneath the debris.
"The rescue work will take time, maybe until tomorrow morning. So far five people are confirmed dead and nine people are seriously injured."
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
