Dhuri: As per the media reports emanating from Sangrur district of Punjab, four people have died and other 36 got injured when an explosion ripped through a potato cold storage warehouse here on Friday afternoon. The storage was badly damaged with the roof completly blown off. The blast occurred at the Guru Nanak Cold store located near the Dhuri flyover. Following the incident, teams of Disaster Response force (DRF) was called from Bathinda who took out the injured workers out from the debris.
Debris of the potato cold store, Express Photo.
A JCB machine was used in recovery operation. Though APS Virk- DC Sangrur has ordered an inquiry in this case, but preliminary information revealed that blast occurred in the pipeline of an air conditioner in the cold store due to which triggered the incident. Those who lost their lives included three daily wagers who had come from Hoshairpur while the other is a Ludhiana-based farmer who came to get his potato stock stored, notes Indian Express (IE).
Apparently, the media sources indicate that out of the 36 injured, 17 suffered injuries due to blast inside the cold store while 19 others fell sick due to ammonia gas leak out of cold store after the accident. All have been admitted in private as well as Government hospitals, informed the DC. As per the authorities, rescue operations are still undergoing as the administration wanted to be absolutely sure that no one was left beneath the debris.
“I have asked the SDM Dhuri to do a complete inquiry in this case and guilty will be punished as per law. We will find the reasons behind this blast. So far we have been able to rescue all the persons trapped inside the cold store,” said APS Virk while talking with the mediapersons present at the site. Owner of the store, Harinder Singh, who reached the site, stated that it was an accident.
Furthermore, the Punjab government in the evening nnounced Rs 1 lakh compensation each for the families of dead and Rs 50,000 each to families of the injured apart from free treatment at Government hospitals.