Hyderabad: Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha has refuted allegations that the bodies of victims from the Sigachi industrial blast were being transported in packing boxes.
In a statement issued by his office, the minister clarified that the boxes seen leaving the blast site actually contained forensic samples collected for examination, and were not used to store or transport dead bodies.
He explained that authorities were handling the victims’ remains with utmost care, respecting the sentiments of the bereaved families. Samples from every recovered body or body part were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Hyderabad for DNA testing. These samples would then be matched with the DNA of family members to confirm identities, after which the remains were preserved in freezers and handed over to families.
He said freezers were placed in ambulances to shift the remains without charge to the victims’ native places, even if hundreds of kilometres away.
Rajanarasimha further noted that the government had already provided ex gratia of ₹1 lakh per family for cremation and immediate needs and that compensation of ₹1 crore from the company was under process.
Acting on the directions of the health minister, district officials including the Collector, SP, public health director, commissioner of medical education, and local medical officers were coordinating treatment for the injured and supporting the families.
Bodies were being safely preserved at Patancheru Area Hospital until DNA results were completed and formal identification confirmed, he added.
