At least 10 people died and 17 were injured in an explosion in a snacks factory in Muzaffarpur city, around 75km north of the state capital, on Sunday. Some people are feared missing.

The blast at Anshul Snacks Private Limited belonging to Vikas Modi took place at 9.40am. The explosion was so powerful that it shook the entire city and was heard several kilometres away.

It brought down the entire factory and damaged several others in the vicinity, killing a couple and injuring others.

The place where the blast took place was turned into a heap of mangled metal and construction blocks.

People living in the area rushed to the place and mounted a rescue operation on their own. They took out the bodies and the injured and rushed them to hospitals.

“Around a dozen of us ran to the factory after the blast. We first went to the chura (flattened rice) mill located adjacent to the factory and saw two dead bodies there while some others were lying injured. We entered the broken factory and brought out eight dead bodies, of which three were unrecognisable. A total of 10 people have died and 17 were rescued in injured condition,” said Muhammad Jehangir, one of the rescuers.

Local people and district administration officials outside the factory. Sanjay Choudhary

Pankaj Kumar of Mathurapur village, an employee at the ill-fated factory, suffered head injuries while having breakfast in the canteen there.

“Normally 300 people work in two shifts in the factory, but only around 30 people were present at the time of the blast because it is a Sunday. A piece of iron struck me in the head after the blast. I ran out and saw everything was destroyed,” Pankaj said.

Satyendra Kumar, an engineer at the factory, said around seven to 10 workers were positioned around the boiler when the blast occurred while several others were working inside the factory.

The district administration and police officers reached the spot after the blast. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was roped into the rescue operation.

“Altogether seven persons have been killed and seven have been injured in the incident which prima facie occurred because of a blast in the factory boiler. The injured people are out of danger,” Muzaffarpur district magistrate Pranav Kumar told The Telegraph.

“Machine failure seems to be the cause of the explosion. We need to find out whether the machines and the boiler were duly inspected or not, whether they were properly maintained or not,” Pranav added.

The district magistrate also revealed that the land in the industrial area was allotted to Ishan Snacks and Namkeen Private Limited, but the name of the factory was Anshul Snacks Private Limited. It primarily made noodles.

A huge crowd, including family members of the workers, assembled outside the factory and was waiting there till the time of filing this report.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief at the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased.