Explosion, Fire at India Pharmaceutical Plant Kill at Least 18 Workers

People ride a motorcycle in the rain in Hyderabad, India, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
People ride a motorcycle in the rain in Hyderabad, India, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
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Explosion, Fire at India Pharmaceutical Plant Kill at Least 18 Workers

People ride a motorcycle in the rain in Hyderabad, India, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
People ride a motorcycle in the rain in Hyderabad, India, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A big explosion triggered a fire in a pharmaceutical plant in southern India, killing at least 18 workers, police said Thursday.
An additional 37 people were injured in the blast and the fire in the chemical reactor of the plant in Andhra Pradesh state Wednesday and were hospitalized, police officer M. Deepika said.
The Press Trust of India news agency reported distressing scenes with the skin of several workers peeling off. Ambulances transported them to the hospital.
According to The Associated Press, officials suspect the cause was related to the electricity at the plant. State authorities have ordered an investigation.
The explosion occurred at the Escientia Company in Anakapalle district. The plant is about 350 kilometers northeast of Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
The 5-year-old company manufactures intermediate chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
As the news of the blast spread, hundreds of workers' family members and relatives rushed to the plant to learn what happened to their loved ones.
Around 380 employees work two shifts at the plant. Many workers escaped because they were on lunch break when the explosion started the fire.
The plant is in the state's special economic zone at Atchutapuram village, which was established in 2009 with over 200 companies. Anakapalli is adjacent to the port city of Vishakhapatnam, a highly industrialized area with many mishaps, including hazardous chemical leakages.



Israeli Military Intelligence Head Leaves Post, Takes Responsibility for Oct. 7 Failure

Major General Aharon Haliva (Israeli Army)
Major General Aharon Haliva (Israeli Army)
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Israeli Military Intelligence Head Leaves Post, Takes Responsibility for Oct. 7 Failure

Major General Aharon Haliva (Israeli Army)
Major General Aharon Haliva (Israeli Army)

Israel's outgoing head of military intelligence took responsibility for his country's failures to defend its border on Oct. 7 at his resignation ceremony on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Major General Aharon Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the military, announced his resignation in April and was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the deadliest attack in Israel's history.

“The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault,” Haliva said at the ceremony on Wednesday, and he called for a national investigation “in order to study" and "understand deeply" the reasons that led to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Oct. 7 attack badly tarnished the reputation of the Israeli military and intelligence services, previously seen as all but unbeatable by armed Palestinian groups such as Hamas.

In the early hours of the morning of Oct. 7, following an intense rocket barrage, thousands of fighters from Hamas and other groups broke through security barriers around Gaza, surprising Israeli forces and rampaging through communities in southern Israel.

Some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the attack, most of them civilians, and about 250 were taken into captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Some 109 hostages are believed to still be in Gaza, around a third of whom are thought to be dead.

The head of the armed forces, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, and the head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, both accepted responsibility in the aftermath of the attack but have stayed on while the war in Gaza has continued.