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People were not the ones who were slain in the gas compressor explosion; labour laws, rights, and dignity, too, were slain and remained ignored as a couple of people negotiated the price of lives lost.

Those killed in the devastating explosion at the South Glass Private Limited in Shadnagar were migrant laboureres, who had left their homes to eke out a living. All their efforts and dreams were shattered when the blast ripped through the building around 5 pm on 28 June...

Even as anger overcame grief, about a dozen police personnel deployed outside the morgue tried to keep tempers from spiralling out of control, hours after the tragedy that snuffed out the lives.

The police had their task cut out. They were assigned to maintain law and order until the bodies were flown out of Shamshabad to the workers’ home states, one in Odisha, and two each in  Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

More than 30 labourers had gathered at the morgue, debating whether to protest in front of a police station or the office of South Glass to meet the owner or accept the compensation.

The discussions went on till 6 pm on Saturday, 29 June. A car rolled in, and two men, previously unknown to the labourers, got out and spoke to the police and then to the contractors. These men were believed to be friends or family members of Shailesh, the owner of South Glass Private Limited.

The men offered a compensation of ₹3 lakh each, ₹27 lakh less than the demanded amount. They later raised the compensation to ₹5 lakh each. They were negotiating the price of life.

Meanwhile, the Telangana labour department estimated compensation of about ₹81.81 lakhs for the five deceased. However, the victims’ families did not know how to claim compensation or whom to approach for assistance.