Two killed, several injured in chemical tank explosion during Mandya factory relocation

Two people were killed and several others seriously injured on Sunday in a blast caused by a chemical storage tank explosion at Kirti Chemicals Industries near Karekate village in Mandya taluk, police and media reports said.

The explosion occurred in the morning around 10 a.m. while workers were in the process of relocating the factory to a new site following prolonged protests by local residents and farmers over safety concerns. According to initial reports, employees were using a gas cutter to open the cap of a storage tank containing chemical residues when an ignition of residual vapours triggered the blast.

Two workers, reportedly migrant labourers from Bihar , died instantly in the explosion, and their bodies were severely mangled by the force of the blast, sources said. At least three to four others were injured , with some suffering critical injuries; one victim was reported to have lost a limb in the blast. The injured were rushed to the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) for emergency treatment.

Police from Basaralu Police Station have registered a case and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident. Mandya Superintendent of Police Dr. Shobha Rani confirmed that details are being collected about the deceased and injured, and that several factory workers reportedly left the site following the explosion. Officials are also trying to locate the factory owners and management to determine if safety protocols were followed during the relocation work.

Local residents raised fresh concerns about the facility’s safety record, recalling a major toxic gas leak incident in 2022 at the same factory that damaged crops in nearby areas, affected public health, and killed domestic animals. Strong opposition from farmers and villagers, coupled with intervention by the local MLA and district administration, had previously halted the plant’s operations, prompting the owners to attempt relocation.

At present, authorities have not released the identities of the victims, and the official cause of the explosion remains under investigation. Police and emergency teams continue to probe the sequence of events that led to the tragedy.