9 dead, 8 injured in fire at T’gana power plant
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nHYDERABAD: Nine people were killed and eight others injured after a fire broke out at an underground hydroelectric plant in Telangana, officials said on Friday.
In a statement, the Telangana State Power Generation Corporation (Tsgenco) said there were 17 people present at the fire-hit unit of the Srisailam Left Bank Hydel Power Station (SLBHP) when the accident occurred late on Thursday.
“Eight of them managed to come out of the house with injuries, nine others remained trapped inside, as they were trying their best efforts to put out the fire and save the power plant from being burnt completely,” the statement said. Seven of the nine deceased were Tsgenco employees.
The SLBHP is 900MW plant located on the Telangana side of the Srisailam reservoir run by Tsgenco. The plant was constructed inside a two-km tunnel under the Nallamala hill range adjacent to the Srisailam reservoir.
The cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained but Telangana power minister G Jagadeeshwar Reddy said that a short circuit in one of the electric panels of the power house might have caused it.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were pressed into rescue operation immediately after the fire broke out, officials said. However, Reddy said that the “thick smoke that engulfed the tunnel” made it difficult for the rescuers to reach those trapped inside.
“…Because of flames and heavy smoke, it was not possible to enter the tunnel. The rescue teams could enter the power house only by Friday afternoon. But by that time, all the nine employees were unfortunately found dead,” the Tsgenco statement added.
Out of the eight persons who managed to escape from the exit route in the initial hours, three were seriously injured and were being treated, the statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express his condolences to the families of the deceased.
“Fire at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest,” he tweeted.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao ordered a probe by Crime Investigation Department (CID) into the tragedy. He appointed CID additional director general Govind Singh as inquiry officer to probe into the cause of the accident and submit a report to the government.
Describing the accident as “most tragic”, the CM conveyed his condolences to family members of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to the injured, an official statement said.