Toll reaches to 12 in starch factory blast

Belgaum, Karnataka, May 10 (UNI) The toll in the May 4 blast in a Gokak-based Starch factory rose to 12 with six more workers succumbing to burn injuries at the KLE Hospital overnight.

Hospital sources told UNI while four workers succumbed last night, two died today. The condition of two more, of the 22 still undergoing treatment, was serious.

Meanwhile, the management of the Riddi Siddi Starch Factory announced a compensation of Rs eight lakh to each of the dead and a permanent job to one person in the family.

Even those who unable to work after the incident would be eligible for the compensation. Besides, the company would bear the medical expenditure which would not be deducted from the compensation, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Janwad.

The blast took place when a leaking gas cylinder burst and starch stock caught fire.

UNI