Mangal Akhade had joined SVS Aqua Technologies just two months ago to support her family and for a better future, but the fate had something else for her in store as she was among 18 workers who perished in a massive fire at the company's plant near here on Monday. I The air was thick with grief in areas surrounding the chemical company's fire-ravaged premises near Uravade village, around 40km from Pune city, as residents struggled to come to term with the loss of so many workers from the locality.

The deceased, mostly women, were residents of villages near the Pirangut MIDC area of Mulshi tehsil of Pune district, where SVS Aqua Technologies, which manufactures chlorine dioxide among other chemicals, is located. Mangal Akhade, 24, had workedin the private firm for just two months, said her uncle.