Hyderabad, July 1 || The death toll in the explosion in a pharmaceutical unit at Pashamylaram near Hyderabad mounted to 36 on Tuesday.
With some of the injured succumbing at hospitals and rescue workers recovering more bodies from debris, the death toll rose sharply since Monday.
The toll in the worst industrial disaster in Telangana may go up further as the rescue workers continued searches for the bodies in the debris of a three-storey building which collapsed under the impact of the blast.
A massive explosion had rocked Sigachi Industries Limited's pharmaceutical factory at Pashamylaram industrial area in Sangareddy district, about 50 km from Hyderabad, on Monday morning.
The explosion in the Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) drying unit also left more than 30 workers injured. The condition of some of them is stated to be critical.
Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), Revenue and police continued clearing debris.