10 May 2024  |   07:03am IST

Four blasts rock Bicholim, send fireballs rolling onto the road

Fire engulfed a rolling mill’s scrap melting furnace; fearing an earthquake, terrified residents of Hill View Colony move out of their homes; no injuries reported; miraculous escape for mother-son duo riding on a scooter as fire balls land on the road

Team Herald

BICHOLIM:: Residents of the Hill View Colony in Bicholim were terrified as four major blasts at Kairav rolling mills furnace rocked the Muslimwada area on Thursday evening at around 7pm. 

A scooterist, who was ferrying his mother, had a miraculous escape when fire balls crossed the boundary wall and landed on the road.  The locals noticed the thick smoke billowing from the factory.

The residents were horrified as the blasts shook the walls of houses at Hill View Colony, located about 500 metres away. Some narrated that they thought an earthquake had occurred. 

An eyewitness said, “There were four blasts. Our house vibrated. We felt the aasts took place, another resident of Hill View Colony, said, “We thought it was an earthquake.  Our house vibrated, even though it has a slab.” 

The resident said, “When we rushed out, we saw there was fire everywhere. There were no lights. Earlier, I had made at least 10 complaints, but no action was taken on a single complaint.”

A third resident stated that a scooterist told him that the fire flew over his head as he was riding. “Anything could have happened to me, the scooterist told me,” he said. “He told me his mother was with him. We were outside. Our wall was vibrating. There was thick black smoke which emanated from the factory. There were four to five blasts. Such blasts have not taken place in the last 25 years since I am staying here. The fire crossed their compound wall. It was like a bomb blast,” he narrated. 

Stating that there were no injuries, Bicholim Police Inspector Dinesh Gadekar said, “The blast occurred at a boiler while melting metal scrap. The factory melts metal and the blast reportedly took place because the water got mixed in the furnace.” 

A fire accident case has been registered and inquiry is on, he added. 

The Bicholim Fire Services said they got the call at 7.10 pm. The iron furnace caught fire, they stated. Just one fire tender rushed to the site and doused the fire. It took an hour and 10 minutes for four fire personnel to extinguish the fire. The factory owner has not provided the details of the estimated loss. The operation was carried out under the directions of Station Fire Officer Rahul R Desai, with four firemen, two drivers and a head constable.