Bhubaneswar fuel station blast: Missing person confirmed dead after DNA test
BHUBANESWAR: Police on Thursday confirmed the death of Simanchala Parida, a technician, who had allegedly gone missing from the site of a fuel station in the state capital where a powerful explosion had taken place on October 7.
The confirmation came after the DNA test of the blood samples of Parida’s parents matched with that of some body parts recovered from the site of the blast.
“We have received the DNA test report. It has confirmed that the body parts belonged to Parida. This has made us come to the conclusion that the ‘missing’ Simanchala Parida is dead,” commissioner of police Sudhanshu Sarangi said.
With Parida’s death, the toll in the tragedy has risen to two. Earlier, the explosion had claimed the life of a man, identified as Satya Nayak, a resident of Ganjam district.
Parida (40), Nayak (48) and three others were engaged by a private company to conduct safety inspection at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited-run fuel station’s auto-LPG unit before refilling, when a cylinder went off and ripped through the fuel station.
The explosion was so powerful that the glass windows and doors of several buildings, including the Raj Bhawan in the vicinity, were damaged. On the same day, police had found lumps of body parts near the site of the explosion.
A day later, Parida’s disappearance from the site after the explosion came to the fore after his family members told media persons that he was engaged for maintenance work of the auto-LPG unit.
The commissionerate police had registered a ‘man missing’ case after receiving a complaint from Parida’s family. They had alleged that he remained untraceable since the tragedy.
On October 15, doctors at the Capital Hospital here collected the blood samples of Simanchala’s parents. The DNA test was conducted at the state forensic science laboratory.
Since the police had recovered some body parts, including fingers, human flesh lumps and an arm from the site of the incident, they decided to go for the DNA test to verify whether the injured parts were that of Parida.
“We have informed the family members of Parida, who hailed from Ganjam district, about the outcome of the DNA test. We have also informed the Indian Oil authorities so that they can provide compensation to the bereaved family,” Sarangi said.
The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) had already announced Rs 8 lakh compensation for the next of the kin of the deceased, Rs 4 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.
While the cause of the explosion is being separately probed by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas as well as the commissionerate police, the authorities of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) suspect it occurred owing to the leakage of the auto LPG unit before refilling.
“We are likely to ascertain the exact cause of the blast and suspected negligence by some persons in the next two or three days,” Sarangi said.