At least five injured in blast at sponge iron factory in West Bengal
A furnace explosion at a sponge iron factory in West Bengal has left at least five workers critically injured. Local authorities are conducting rescue operations, while residents report structural damage to nearby homes.
Why it matters
The incident raises significant questions regarding industrial safety standards and management accountability in the manufacturing sector.
A furnace of a sponge iron factory exploded in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman district, triggering a fire inside the unit and injuring at least five workers, police said on Saturday (July 18, 2026).
The incident occurred late on Friday (July 17) in Jamuria, and the explosion could be heard from nearly a kilometre away.
A senior police officer said the explosion triggered a fire inside the factory, prompting a large-scale rescue operation by the police and fire services.
"Five workers have been rescued so far and shifted to different hospitals in critical condition. It is not yet clear whether anyone else was near the furnace at the time of the explosion.”
"Search operations inside the unit cannot begin until the temperature is brought down and the area is declared safe," said Jamuria Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Soumendra Singh Thakur.
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