Potato Cold Storage Site Explosion Kills 4, Injures Others

Four workers were killed and more than a dozen received injuries after an explosion Friday at a potato cold storage warehouse in Dhuri, India that caused the structure to collapse, numerous Indian news media organizations reported.

District officials told the Hindustan Times that the explosion appears to have been caused by a gas tank leak at the site’s chiller plant, but cautioned that no conclusions can be drawn until an inquiry into the incident is completed.

“One can’t deny some grave error that led the building to collapse. We will go into the depth of the matter to find out whether there were enough safety measures in place at the cold store to fix the responsibility,” an official told the newspaper.

A farmer who was bringing potatoes to the Guru Nanak Cold Storage facility was killed inside the facility when its roof fell in, along with a foreman and two laborers, India Daily News & Analysis reported. The website said at least 17 others injured in the incident.

Crews had to rescue a number of people trapped under the rubble using JCB machines, the Times said.

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