Four people were killed and 13 injured on Friday following a powerful explosion in a private cold storage in Sangrur district.
The injured have been admitted at the hospitals in Sangrur and ludhiana.
The blast occurred at the Guru Nanak cold storage owned by Harinder Singh of Kaheru, the police said.
“The blast took place due to sudden and excessive outflow of ammonia gas. The explosion caused the building to collapse, leading to the death of four persons. Four of the injured are undergoing treatment at DMC Hospital in ludhiana,” said a government spokesperson.
Amid reports that a few people could still be trapped under the debris of the building, authorities have been ordered to undertake large-scale rescue operations.
Expressing shock and grief, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced a compensation of Rs one lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
The Chief Minister said that all units deploying gas and other dangerous materials would need to follow strict rules and regulations to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. He asked the administration to ensure strict implementation of such rules, and not allow any laxity in this regard.
Capt Amarinder has directed the district administration to step on the rescue and relief operations, besides ordering to ensure stringent implementation of rules in the operations of all businesses and industries using dangerous materials.
He also directed the district officials to investigate the incident and pin the responsibility for the mishap.