Nagpur, March 1 At least 17 people were killed and 18 others injured in a powerful explosion that ripped through an explosives manufacturing factory in Maharashtra's Nagpur district on Sunday morning, police said.
The incident occurred a day after an explosion at a cracker unit in Andhra Pradesh's Kakinada district claimed 21 lives.
The blast took place at the SBL Energy Limited factory, a manufacturer of mining and industrial explosives, in Raulgaon, a town in the Katol tehsil of Nagpur district, a senior police official said.
At least 17 people were killed and 18 others were injured, the police said.
The bodies were so badly charred that they were unrecognizable, and samples from the family members were being taken for DNA testing to identify the deceased.
Grief-stricken family members of the victims gathered at the factory compound, located about 50 km from the district headquarters, seeking information about their loved ones.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the explosion.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), along with officials from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and the Defence Information System for Security (DISS), were at the site, and rescue operations were being carried out on an emergency basis, Fadnavis said.
The injured were immediately taken to a hospital in Nagpur, the police said.
District Collector Vipin Itankar and Superintendent of Police Harrsh Podar were at the scene.
Representatives of SBL Energy Limited told
