FIVE KILLED IN MILL BOILER BLAST IN BIHAR; PROBE ORDERED

PATNA: At least five labourers were killed after the boiler at a private sugar mill in northwest Bihar’s Gopalganj district exploded on Wednesday night.

Nine more labourers sustained serious burn injuries in the explosion at the Sasa Musa private sugar mill, 143 km northwest of state capital Patna.

Three of the injured have been airlifted to Patna in view of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-sponsored Bihar bandh. They have been admitted to Patna Medical College Hospital.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry into the incident and announced compensation of ₹4 lakh each to the family of victims.

The remaining six injured have been taken to Gorakhpur in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh for treatment.

Police said three of those killed had been identified as Arjun Kumar Kushwaha, Kripa Yadav and Mohammad Shahsuddin.

Gopalganj superintendent of police Mrityunjay Kumar Chowdhary said mill owner Mahmood Ali and his two sons had been detained for safety reasons after a mob went on a rampage on the factory campus. He said the mob also attacked Ali’s house and set on fire a vehicle parked there.

Work was in full swing when the boiler exploded. At least 100 workers were on duty at the time of the incident and the toll could mount as many workers were still trapped inside the mill. Personnel of State Disaster Response Force have been pressed into service to rescue the trapped mill workers. Locals said they heard a loud blast around 11.35 pm. Overheating of the boiler could be the reason for the explosion, they said.

Arun Kumar Kushwaha, brother of one of the victims, said a pipe of the mill boiler had exploded a few days ago also but it was later repaired. Meanwhile, RJD chief Lalu Prasad has expressed grief over death of five persons in the boiler blast.