ACCIDENTAL FIRE IN HEMRL, PUNE COURT OF INQUIRY CONSTITUTED
A Court of Inquiry
has been constituted to ascertain the cause of the accidental
fire that broke out in the Solid Propellant Processing Facility
of the High Energy Material Research Laboratory {HEMRL}, Pune
yesterday afternoon. The accident resulted in the death of six
individuals. The probable cause of death is due to high temperature
and smoke suffocation. As per preliminary information, there has
been no significant loss of the property and material and there
was no explosion. All safety measures were in place. The well
documented standard operating procedures for processing hazardous
material are always strictly adhered to.
Two of the deceased
Shri Kiran Vyas and Shri MM Bhalerao were Technical Officers ‘A’
in HEMRL, The remaining four i.e. Shri Abhay More, Shri Sachin
Varhadi, Shri Damu Sathe and Shri Ramesh Malpote were contract
employees. A contractor employee, Shri Krishna Sathe, has suffered
injuries and is presently undergoing treatment at the intensive
care unit of Sassoon General Hospital and has since been declared
out of danger.
The Court of Inquiry
is being headed by Dr SK Salwan, Director, Centre of Environment
and Explosive Safety. The Court will submit its report within
four days and also suggest remedial measures.
