ROURKELA: A worker was charred to death and two others sustained critical burn injuries in an explosion inside an induction furnace plant at Kalunga industrial estate near Rourkela in Sundargarh district in the wee hours of Thursday. The mishap occurred inside the Subh Ispat Private Limited at around 3.30 am on Thursday.
Deputy director of Factories and Boilers Bibhu Prasad, who visited the accident site and took stock of the situation, said it is suspected one of the crucibles saw an explosion which might have happened either due to damage in the refractory line of the crucible or for some other reasons.
“Under the impact of the explosion, hot liquor metal splashed on the site and also created steam coming in contact with water leading to death and injuries. The exact reason behind the mishap would be known after a detailed investigation,” he stated.
Sources said, in the mishap, one Chinmoy Behera (31) of Jajpur district was killed instantly, while a local worker Parmeswar Kishan (41) and another Abhishek Sharma (25) of Bihar with critical burn injuries were admitted to the nearby JP Hospital. Brahmani Tarang police said the body has been seized for autopsy which would be conducted after the arrival of the deceased’s family members.
State vice-president of CITU Jehangir Ali attributed the fire mishap in Subh Ispat to a lack of maintenance and non-adherence to workplace safety measures. Pointing to the recent surge in industrial mishaps, the CITU leaders blamed poor inspection and lax enforcement by the authorities of the Directorate of Factories and Boilers and demanded strict measures to save precious human lives.
However, authorities of Factories and Boilers claimed that inspections and safety checks are conducted at regular intervals. Meanwhile, a number of industrial mishaps leading to human deaths have raised questions about adherence to safety practices in private industries in the Kalunga and nearby Kuanrmunda industrial belts.
Recent mishaps