Janjivan Bureau / Raipur : Union Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh, has expressed anguish at the incident and has asked Minister of State for Steel, Vishnudeo Sai, Steel Secretary, Binoy Kumar and SAIL Chairman, Anil Kumar Chaudhary to rush to Bhilai this evening to take stock of the situation and offer all possible help to the bereaved families. The Steel Minister is closely monitoring the situation.
In a statement issued by the Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) a fire in gas pipe line of Coke Oven Battery Complex No. 11 of its Bhilai Steel Plant broke out at around 10.30 am today. The fire broke out during a scheduled maintenance job. Nine persons have lost their lives and 14 are undergoing medical treatment for burn injuries. All resources have been mobilized to provide adequate care to the injured. SAIL is providing all the support to the families of the affected.
The explosion took place around 11 am in a gas pipeline connected to the coke oven section of the plant in Bhilai town, located around 30 km from the capital, Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) GP Singh told.
“At least six people were burnt to death while 14 others received injuries and most of them were said to be in a serious condition,” he said.
As per preliminary information, around 24 employees were working at the spot when the accident occurred, he said.
Police personnel and a rescue team rushed to the spot, he said, adding that all the victims were being taken to a local hospital.
Rescue operation was still under way at the plant, operated by the state-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in June dedicated the modernised and expanded Bhilai Steel Plant to the nation.
As per SAIL’s website, the Bhilai Steel Plant is India’s sole producer and supplier of world-class rails for the Indian Railways, including 260-metre long rails, and a major producer of a large variety of wide and heavy steel plates and structural steel.
With an annual production capacity of 3.153 MT of saleable steel, the plant also specialises in other products such as wire rods and merchant products.
