"The blast rocked homes and buildings in its surrounding areas and was followed by a huge fire with clouds of black smoke billowing out," said Sanjay Ahire, an officer at the Shirpur Police Station.

A hospital official told IANS that so far at least 10 persons have died while another 43 have been injured, many of them critically.

The blast is believed to have taken place in a boiler of the Mumbai-based Rumit International's Rumit Chemisynth factory in the Waghadi area on the outskirts of Shirpur.

Given the intensity of the blast and the fire that followed it, officials fear that the death toll may rise.

Early pictures of the blast site showed a factory building with all its walls blown off with its neighbouring buildings also sustaining damage.

Firefighters were engaged in dousing the fire while rescue teams have rushed the injured to the nearby hospitals. Some critical victims have been rushed to Dhule.