The toll in the chemical factory blast near Hyderabad in Telangana rose to 34 on Tuesday, a police official told PTI.

The explosion, which occurred on Monday at a drying unit of the Sigachi Industries’ plant in the Pashamylaram industrial area, triggered a fire. Due to this, part of the building collapsed and workers were trapped under the debris.

“As many as 31 bodies have been extricated from the debris,” Sangareddy Superintendent of Police Paritosh Pankaj told PTI.

Three others died at a hospital during treatment, he added.

Around 90 employees were in the factory at the time of the blast, Telangana Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.

Rescue operations by the National Disaster Response Force, Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency and Telangana Fire Disaster Response teams continued on Tuesday, the newspaper reported.

Sigachi Industries had said that production at its Hyderabad plant would be paused for around 90 days to restore affected equipment and structures, PTI reported.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the families of those who died. Those who suffered injuries will be given Rs 50,000 each, he said.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had told officials to ensure that the injured persons receive appropriate medical treatment and said...

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