Massive fire breaks out at Asian Paints manufacturing unit in Vizag

Panic ensued at the Atchutapuram Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Vizag after a fire broke out at the Asian Paints unit at Pudi on Monday. The fire led to an explosion near tanks and caused dense clouds of smoke in the area. Reportedly, there were about 150 workers who ran out in panic after the explosion took place at the unit. However, sources claimed that no one was injured in the accident.

Eventually, several fire tenders and ambulances reached the spot and swung into action swiftly. Reportedly, eight fire tenders from the Fire Department, RINL, Laura Labs, HPCL Visakh Refinery, APIIC and NTPC Simhadri were mobilised to douse the fire.

As reported by Eenadu, the flames caused an explosion in five of the eight tanks in which chemicals were stored. The loss incurred in the accident is being estimated close to Rs 1 crore. Several higher officials visited the Asian Paints manufacturing facility in Vizag and inspected the area to gain further insights. The officials opined that the explosion might have been caused due to the mishandling of the chemicals by untrained personnel.

TDP MLA candidate for Yelamanchili, Panchakarla Ramesh Babu, and other local leaders and officers visited the paints manufacturing facility after the explosion.