VISAKHAPATNAM: The fire accident at Porus Laboratories Pvt Ltd, a pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing firm in Akkireddy Gudem village in Musunuru mandal of Eluru district which claimed six lives, has raised concerns over safety in industries in Andhra Pradesh.
On average, over 250 people die due to fire accidents a year in state. The NCRB’s report on accidental deaths and suicides says in 2020, there were 227 deaths due to 230 fire accidents in AP. The cause for more than half of them (60 per cent/140 fire accidents) was recorded under ‘Other.’ Higher proportion of accidents due to ‘Other Cause’ was also observed in 2019 and previous years.
