Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu visited the accident site at the Atchutapuram SEZ in Visakhapatnam. He met with the families of the deceased and the injured undergoing treatment in hospitals before inspecting the site. Following his visit, CM Naidu addressed the media and announced that the accident had claimed the lives of 17 people. He further announced an ex-gratia of ₹1 crore each to the families of the deceased and added that the ex-gratia would be paid to the families today.
All severely injured in the accident would get ₹50 lakh compensation, while those with minor injuries would receive ₹25 lakh. Naidu further assured that the government would stand by the affected families. According to him, the company involved, Essencia, is among the companies listed within the “red category”. He explained the fact that accidents of such a magnitude occur during operations due to a lack of precaution. He described the incident as an explosion of paper clouds and went ahead to attribute the mishap to lack of following the standard operating procedures.
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He pointed out that 119 fire accidents had occurred in the state from 2019 to 2024, killing 120 people within a period of five years, yet no stringent action was taken by the previous government against the companies involved. He said that red category companies had to henceforth ensure safety measures for their workers and summoned all industrialists for a meeting. He warned that stern action would be initiated against companies if they failed to fall in line.
He responded to say that he was setting up a high-level committee to look into the accident, to see if there had been any industry malpractices, and to assess the quality standards. He said the guilty behind the accident will not be spared and hinted at the role of internal problems within the management of the company which could also be responsible for the disaster.
