'Acid in batteries escalated the fire'

INDORE: Industrial health and safety department has initiated a full scale probe into the fire incident at a chemical factory of Grasim industries Ltd in Nagda that led to death of a worker and injured six others.
"We have launched an exhaustive inquiry into the incident. The probe will continue till Saturday, when some conclusive details about how the incident took place will come," department deputy director Jitendra Vyas told TOI.
Vyas had been camping in Nagda since Thursday taking stock of the situation and going through the charred remains.
The fire started in a battery back-up area of a polarization room causing toxic fumes to emanate. Vyas claimed that the plastic on the batteries and the acidic content in the cells compounded the situation.
"We are trying to see if there were any security lapses," he said.
Panic had spread in the factory on Thursday morning as the fire started and fumes started coming out of the polarization room at around 7.45am, minutes after the morning shift started. Factory sources claimed that around 15-20 workers were present near the room when the incident took place. The fumes forced them to rush out of the facility.
One of the workers who inhaled the toxic fumes died in the accident. Sources claimed that six other workers also sustained injuries during the accident.
The company had later agreed to give financial help of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 10 lakh under insurance scheme, job to one family member of the deceased and bear educational expenses of Hariom's children till Class 12.