Eight bodies were recovered on Saturday afternoon, following the fire that broke out at a pharmaceutical company in Maharashtra’s Raigad district a day ago, while the search for three missing persons continued, an official said. The blaze at Blue Jet Healthcare in MIDC Mahad in Raigad district, some 170 kilometres from here, started at 11am on Friday, the National Disaster Response Force official added.

“While four bodies were found till 7 am, another four were recovered till 5 pm. These are part of the 11 persons who had gone missing following the fire. Search operations with personnel from local agencies as well as NDRF for the remaining three continue,” he said. As per initial probe, the fire may have started due to a short circuit, leading to barrels filled with chemicals at the site exploding, which further intensified the blaze, the official said.