Silence after the Sigachi blast: families wait for missing victims, officials stay mum

It was Justin’s first day at work. Just an hour into his shift at Sigachi Industries in Sangareddy, a massive blast ripped through the factory on June 30, killing dozens and plunging families into a nightmare of uncertainty.

Justin, only 20 and fresh out of a Medical Laboratory Technology course, is still listed as ‘missing’ in official police and medical records.

“His father and I had told him he was too young to rush into a job. But after his mother died, he was driven. On Saturday, he went with three of his friends to enquire about work. On Monday, he left home around 7 a.m., full of hope,” says his maternal aunt Sujatha, eight months pregnant, making rounds of the factory to get headway. “I had left for work before him. By the time I called him to ask how his first day was going, it was already too late. He never answered the phone,” she shares.

Sujatha, a staff nurse at a government hospital in Banjara Hills, had taken over the care of Justin and his two sisters after their mother passed away. “In August, it will be two years since we lost her. Now we have lost Justin too,” she says, tearing up.

It was also the first job for 26-year-old Rahul Sharma, listed as ‘missing’ too. A native of Uttar Pradesh, he had been working in the Quality Control Department of the unit for over 10 months after completing his MSc. On Sunday, the day before the explosion, he told his uncle that he was hopeful of an increment after completing a year. “In case he didn’t, he wanted to start looking for another job,” recalls his uncle, Ashok Sharma.

Rahul had not visited home in Varanasi since he started work. “He was planning to come in November, Now, we don’t know if he will ever come back,” Ashok adds as his phone rings. “It is my sister, Rahul’s mother. She keeps calling me for updates. What do I even tell her,” he asks with a sigh.

Ashok rushed to Hyderabad by the earliest flight from Mumbai as soon as he heard about the blast. The news reached the family through Rahul’s friend, Ashish, who had completed his shift just moments before the explosion. Neither the company nor the police had contacted the family, he says.

Ashok is staying at the shared paying guest accommodation in Kukatpally where Rahul lived with his colleagues from the factory and has been making repeated visits to the site, desperate for information. Rahul’s two other relatives — Umesh from Varanasi and Ajay from Maharashtra — have also arrived here. “We gave our DNA samples on Tuesday evening and were asked to wait for at least 24 hours. But how do you explain to your heart that it must wait,” Ashok says.

Sujatha rues about the lack of official word from the company or police. “Justin’s father, who works in the oxygen industry in Patancheru, heard about the blast from a friend. We rushed there but not a single official has come forward to speak to us,” she says.