Death toll ‘may rise’ in steel plant blast
Fire in the gas pipeline during scheduled maintenance work triggers explosion
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At least nine people died and several others were injured yesterday, after a gas supply pipeline exploded at the Bhilai Steel Plant, the flagship unit of India’s largest steel maker in the public sector — Steel Authority of India Limited (Sail).
“It was a major incident. Nine people have died so far,” Vijay Mairal, the spokesperson of the Bhilai Steel Plant, told journalists. He added that the death toll could go up.
The injured were rushed to the Bhilai plant’s Sector 9 hospital.
The Bhilai plant, located 30 kilometres west of the state capital of Raipur in Durg district, is India’s sole producer and supplier of rails for Indian Railways. Shares of Sail fell as much as over 4 per cent yesterday after news of the blast was flashed by news channels.
“In an unfortunate incident on Tuesday at around 10.30am, there was a fire in the gas pipeline of Bhilai Steel Plant’s Coke Oven Battery Complex No 11 during a scheduled maintenance job,” the company said in a statement.
It added: “The fire has been controlled. So far, nine persons have lost their lives and 14 are undergoing medical treatment. All resources have been mobilised to provide adequate care to the injured.”
The disaster triggered anger against alleged poor safety arrangements by the plant management.