Karnataka: Six people dead, three injured in boiler blast in Bagalkot sugar factory; state govt to provide compensation to deceased's kin

Six workers were killed and five critically injured after a boiler exploded in the Nirani sugar factory at Mudhol in Karnataka’s Bagalkot district on Sunday, ANI reported. “Six people have died on the spot due to the blast in the boiler of the sugar factory in Kulali village,” a police control room official told IANS from Mudhol, about 550 km northwest of Bengaluru. [caption id=“attachment_5740621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The blast at the Bagalkot sugar factory was so intense that the three-floored building completely collapsed. Image credit: ANI/@Twitter[/caption] At least three others were injured in the blast, the official added. According to News18, the factory is a unit belonging to the Nirani Sugars Limited, a company owned by the Nirani brothers - BJP MLA Murugesh Nirani and his brothers. The blast, which occurred when the workers were in the distillery unit of the sugar factory, was so intense that the three-floored building completely collapsed, killing four people on the spot, reported The New Indian Express. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy directed district officials to shift the injured to hospitals immediately and asked for the site to be inspected to ascertain the cause of the explosion. “The death of the six people in the blast in the sugar factory is saddening. Bagalkot district officials have been directed to conduct a probe and submit a report. The State government will provide compensation to the deceased’s kin,” a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said. The deceased are yet to be identified. Further details of the explosion are awaited. With inputs from IANS