NELLORE: A fire that broke out at the Satish Dhavan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Nellore district injured two workers, one of them grievously, about 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to sources, the fire started due to an electrical short circuit when the two workers were doing checks on the maintenance of electric panels at the sounding rocket complex. Fire safety officials immediately put out the fire to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the complex.
KV Krishnaiah, a technician who was injured grievously, was first treated at a hospital in Sriharikota and later shifted to Apollo Hospital, in Vanagaram, Chennai while the other worker K Muniraja, who is a contract labourer was admitted to a hospital in Sullurpet in Nellore district.
The authorities of the Space Centre ordered an inquiry into how the fire started and who was responsible for it, sources said.
In a previous incident 12 years ago, a major fire accident occurred on a segment of a Test Rocket Motor at the Solid Propellant Space Booster Plant (SPROB) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota, on February 23, 2004.
It claimed the lives of six persons including an engineer, three technicians and two helpers and caused burn injuries to three persons.