Day after fire at Surat chemical plant, 7 charred bodies recovered by police

One day after the Aether Industries fire incident, seven charred bodies were recovered from the premises of the chemical firm in the Sachin GIDC Industrial area of Surat, Gujarat, by the Police on Thursday. The police have not yet been able to confirm the identity of the seven bodies, but they suspect they were the seven workers who went missing following the blast. “The dead bodies were recovered today morning from the fire site. We have a list of names of seven labourers who were untraceable. We suspect the bodies are theirs. We will take DNA samples of these bodies and match them with the samples from their families for their identification. We are contacting the family members,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police R L Mawani.

A fire broke out at 1 am on Wednesday at the manufacturing site of Aether Industries chemical firm injuring 24 labourers, who are currently under treatment at various hospitals. Chairman of Aether Industries Limited (AIL) Kamalvijay Tulsian confirmed that over 200 workers were working at the plant at that time, the majority of whom were evacuated when the fire broke out. Basant Parekh, chief fire officer of Surat Fire and Emergency Services said that the fire broke out because of a leakage in a highly inflammable solvent tank and pipeline.

Jigna Oza, regional officer of Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Surat said that an inspection of the plant will be carried out and a report will be accordingly filed and sent to the head office of GPCB.​

Following the incident, Aether Industries shares declined by more than 10% in two days, from Rs. 901.55 at 3:30 pm on Tuesday to Rs. 780.80 exactly 48 hours later.