The death toll in the massive explosion in a factory at Dombivli in adjoining Thane district went up to 12 with recovery of another body from the debris, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official said.

The Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the site and ordered into the tragedy. Subhash Desai, Industry Minister also ordered a week-long shutdown of all chemical factories in and around the city to facilitate a thorough safety and security audit.

PTI reported that, "The toll till yesterday was 11. We have reports that civilians found a body at the site this morning," a senior National Disaster Response Force official said.  "Six bodies were recovered day before yesterday and four found yesterday. Also, an injured died in hospital, taking the toll to 11 till yesterday," the official added.

The explosion was happened on Thursday morning in an industrial chemical manufacturing plant in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area in Dombivli (east). The blast leads to a massive fire which raged on for several hours before it could be brought under control.

Police Inspector Sukhada Narkar, Thane Police spokesperson, said that, “The unidentified male whose body was pulled out of the wreckage on Thursday was identified as Sumit Vakatkar. The five bodies which were pulled out on Friday include Sumit’s wife Snehal and his brother Nandan, along with one other deceased identified as Sushant Kamble and two unidentified dead bodies. Umesh Kahar, who was admitted to the Icon Hospital and later referred to the Sion hospital, succumbed to his injuries on Friday, taking the toll up to 11.”

According to the Thane Police officials, five people were killed and over 100 had sustained injuries, in which nine were in a critical condition. Five more bodies were pulled out of the debris on Friday. The deceased also includes two sons and a daughter-in-law of Vishwas Vakatkar, the owner of the plant.

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Nandini