Pesticide Plant Explosion in India Kills 5, Injures 50

Five people are dead and at least 50 injured in an explosion that rocked a pesticide plant Wednesday afternoon in western India.

The death toll may rise once the fire at the scene is brought under control, fire officials said.

The Indian Express quoted management with the Yashashvi Rasayan Private Ltd. chemical factory at Bharuch that an unexpected reaction during a chemical process caused the blast. However, other press accounts cite a fire in a storage area and a boiler explosion as the cause.

Government officials elected to evacuate nearly 4,800 people from two neighboring villages as a precaution, local press reports.

Those injured in the blast, many with burns, are being treated at hospitals in the region.

The explosion was loud enough to be heard nearly 20 kilometers away, press reports state.