At Least 36 Reported Dead After Pharmaceutical Factory Explodes in Southern India – Here’s What We Know
Indian authorities ordered DNA testing to identify individuals who were so severely burned and updated the death toll from a horrific factory explosion in southern India.
On July 1, 2025, local officials reported that at least 36 people had died and dozens more had been injured in an explosion at a pharmaceutical business in Telangana, India.
According to G.V. Narayana Rao, the state’s fire services chief, firefighters discovered 34 charred remains at the scene, which is roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Hyderabad, as reported by the Associated Press. Later, two more employees passed away from serious burns at the hospital.
“The factory’s entire structure has fallen apart. We are still cleaning the debris to determine if anyone remains trapped, but we have extinguished the fire. “We hope to finish removing the debris in the next few hours,” Rao stated.
A crucial step in the production of pharmaceuticals, the factory’s spray dryer unit, was the scene of the event on Monday, June 30. Sigachi Industries allegedly ran the plant with 108 employees at the time of the explosion.
Witnesses claimed to have heard the explosion from a distance of several kilometers. Rescue workers have been trying to clear the area and find any more victims.
“As bodies were badly burned and mutilated, a special medical team has been deployed to conduct DNA tests,” said Telangana Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha following the recovery of the charred bodies. A panel has been established by the state government to look into what caused the fatal explosion.
In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sigachi Industries, a manufacturer of microcrystalline cellulose and other pharmaceutical components, described the explosion as “unfortunate.” Sigachi declared a 90-day halt to operations at the impacted location and confirmed substantial structural damage.
More than 25% of its yearly production capacity is used at the facility. According to reports, the company has subsidiaries in the US and the UAE and runs five production plants in India.
On Tuesday, July 1, Sigachi’s stock reportedly dropped 8% after the explosion, continuing a nearly 10% decline from the day before.
Only a few weeks had passed since another catastrophe in India’s aviation industry before the Telangana tragedy. On Thursday, June 12, minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad, a city in northwest India, an Air India (AI) flight headed for London tragically crashed.
Authorities continued to verify the information, leaving families to grieve the loss of their loved ones.
According to officials, the incident involved aircraft AI171, a Boeing 787-8, carrying 244 people: 12 crew members and 232 passengers. There were 232 passengers, including 169 Indians, 53 British, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese.
Two infants, eleven youngsters, and 217 adults were among the passengers, according to a more thorough breakdown. At the time, the exact number of deaths was still unknown.
“Today, June 12, 2025, Flight AI171, which was flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an incident. We are currently gathering information and will provide further facts as soon as possible on http://airindia.com and on our X handle (https://x.com/airindia),” an Air India representative stated on X.
The plane took off at 1:38 p.m. local time. At 6:25 p.m., it was supposed to touch down at Gatwick Airport in London. Flight Radar data indicates that it lost its signal a few seconds after takeoff, after reaching 625 feet in height.
Prior to cutting off communication, the airplane sent a mayday notice to air traffic control. There was no further communication after the distress call.
Five minutes into the trip, the aircraft crashed into a medical college dorm in the residential neighborhood of Meghani Nagar. In Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million people, the crowded area is located close to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
As rescue personnel raced to the scene, images shown on local TV networks showed dense smoke plumes rising from the crash site.
Marco Chan, an expert in aviation safety, claims that the weather was clear and calm when the accident occurred. According to aviation forecasts, there were no severe weather conditions, storms, or wind shear that could have affected the trip, and there were light surface winds and visibility of about six kilometers.
The director general of the directorate of civil aviation, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, verified the crash site and the number of passengers.
Emergency reaction teams have been sent to the area, and attempts are being made to provide those injured with prompt medical help and required relief, according to India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu.
He expressed his vigilance, instructing all aviation and emergency response agencies to act swiftly and cooperatively, and personally monitoring the situation. “My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families.”
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport will remain closed until further notice due to a suspension of operations.
Darshna Vaghela, a local lawmaker, informed reporters that the collision had damaged the apartments of multiple doctors in the vicinity. He said he was there and helped evacuate many residents.
The airplane crashed into the dining hall of the government-run B.J. Medical College dorm, according to sources in the local media.
The displayed footage showed a portion of the jet stuck atop the structure. Top state police officer Vidhi Chaudhary stated, “We are still verifying the number of dead, including those killed in the building where the plane crashed.”
When the plane crashed, a parent named Ramila revealed that her son had just arrived at the hostel for a lunch break. He sustained injuries when he leaped from the second story, but later reports claimed he was unharmed.
In Ahmedabad, anxious family members have also spoken out as they waited outside hospitals to await word of loved ones. One of them, Poonam Patel, said that his sister-in-law had been aboard the airplane headed for London.
“I learned that the jet had crashed within an hour. He said, “So I came here.”
According to records, the downed aircraft regularly flew between India and Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Melbourne. For the Boeing 787-8, which has had a stellar safety record since its inception 14 years ago, this is the first crash involving the aircraft.
The Dreamliner model, which has flown on almost five million trips and carried a billion passengers, recently reached a notable turning point. Over 30 million flight hours have been accrued by the more than 1,175 Dreamliners in the global fleet.
For Boeing, which was already under strain from persistent problems with its 737 airplane line, the tragedy was a major blow. It also presented a new obstacle for Kelly Ortberg, the CEO, who was over one year into his job and had been brought in to help guide the business through growing operational and dependability difficulties.
India’s most recent fatal aviation accident claimed 21 lives in 2020. At Kozhikode International Airport in the south, a cheap airline, Air India Express, crashed on a tabletop runway.
The Boeing 737 crashed nose-first after skidding and plunging into a ravine. Air India has changed significantly since then. Previously state-owned, the airline was purchased by the Tata Group in 2022 and subsequently merged with Singapore Airlines’ joint venture, Vistara, in 2024.
After the plane hit an Ahmedabad medical college dorm, footage and reports later showed the extent of the destruction. Dozens of medical students were living at the residential hostel of B.J. Medical College and Hospital when AI Flight 171 slammed into it.
CNN reported that the Federation of All India Medical Associations admitted 50 to 60 pupils to nearby hospitals. About four to five people are still missing, and two to three are in critical care.
The federation also confirmed the death of one resident doctor’s wife and reported the missing status of three to four resident doctors’ families. Additionally, it made a public appeal for immediate blood donations.
The tragedy played out in its entirety. At least 290 people have died, including passengers, some of whom were youngsters, locals, and those inside the hostel when the catastrophe occurred, a top physician at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital told CNN. ABC News reports that only one person made it out alive.
The Instagram account India Forums shared footage of the plane’s wreckage all over the campus, including how a piece of the aircraft ripped into a hostel that housed dozens of medical interns. In one picture, a lone man is seen cautiously negotiating a pile of rubble in a dark hallway.
Crowds congregate on the remnants of an upper floor from another perspective above. As rescuers continue to comb through the debris in search of lives, rubble spills from the shattered walls.
Tables are still up within the dining hall, but half-eaten meals and abandoned trays are covered in thick layers of dust and debris, creating a spooky image of how suddenly everyday life was upended.
As dozens of rescuers and people scale debris and dangerous places to continue the search, another frame demonstrates the intensity of the operation. Broken walls and hanging debris highlight the hazardous circumstances they encountered.
A university structure has deeply embedded a portion of the plane’s tail. Officials and onlookers assemble below the ragged wreckage, which now towers above the roadway like a monument to the crash’s violence.
Another scene reveals charred remains at the crash site’s entrance. As police and detectives survey the scene, burning cars, office furniture, and burned walls are cordoned off.
A view of the embedded aircraft tail was shown alongside a discussion of the crash by USMC Retired Colonel Stephen Ganyard in one ABC News segment.
The orange-uniformed emergency personnel, standing around a stretcher amidst the burned wreckage, further demonstrate the size and intensity of the recovery attempt.
Officials are still investigating these instances to identify the causes and evaluate the entire impact.
