Bharuch Blast: 5 Dead, 6 Injured After Reactor Explosion and Chemical Leak at Gujarat Plant
Five workers died and six were injured after a 15-kilolitre reactor exploded during a hydrogenation process at Synzeel Pharmachem in Gujarat's Saykha GIDC in Bharuch. The blast scattered debris outside the site and triggered a hazardous methylene dichloride gas leak. Teams from DISH and GPCB have initiated a formal inquiry into the incident.
Five workers were killed and six others injured after a 15-kilolitre chemical reactor exploded during a hydrogenation process at a pharmaceutical plant in Gujarat's Bharuch district late Friday night. The fatal incident occurred at Synzeel Pharmachem, situated in the Saykha Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) estate within the Vagra taluka.
The explosion triggered a secondary leak of toxic methylene dichloride (MDC) gas, shrouding the factory premises and adjacent industrial sectors in a heavy chemical haze. Emergency response units, police personnel, and district administration officials rushed to the industrial complex to coordinate rescue operations, douse spot fires, and transfer the wounded to nearby healthcare facilities.
Massive Blast Triggers Hazardous Gas Leak
The explosion took place while a 15-kilolitre-capacity reactor was operating during the hydrogenation process. The sheer impact blew metal sheets apart and propelled heavy machinery fragments across the site, scattering reactor debris beyond the factory boundary wall.
Local inputs noted that the sound of the blast reverberated across a radius of nearly 15 kilometres. The subsequent escape of methylene dichloride gas caused acute distress, with workers and nearby residents complaining of severe eye irritation, breathlessness, and nausea, prompting brief panic throughout the Saykha cluster.
Four Victims Identified as Injured Hospitalised
The bodies of the five deceased workers were shifted to the Bharuch Civil Hospital for post-mortem examinations. The six injured individuals were admitted to private hospitals across Bharuch and Vadodara for specialised medical care.
Authorities identified four of the deceased as shift in-charge Jaideep Patel (27) from Vagra, Aniketkumar Harikishor (24), Arjun Ramsingh Gautam (20), and Vrund Talavia. District teams were working to verify the identity of the fifth victim and obtain comprehensive health updates on the hospitalized workers.
Industrial Safety and Pollution Regulators Launch Probe
Teams from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) arrived on site to examine technical failure points and verify whether mandatory factory safety norms were followed.
Bharuch Sub-Divisional Magistrate Manisha Manani confirmed that the explosion erupted during the hydrogenation cycle, adding that regulatory assessments by GPCB and DISH will determine the exact statutory actions to follow. The chemical facility, which started with 53 personnel, had been operating in the Saykha GIDC area for less than a year.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 17, 2026 11:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
