CHENNAI: Five men were killed and two sustained grievous injuries when a boiler exploded at an iron factory in Gummidipoondi in the wee hours of Thursday.
At 2 am, a 15-tonne boiler filled with molten scrap iron operating at 1500 degrees centigrade used to make pellets and rods at the Tulsyan NEC Ltd factory at the SIPCOT industrial estate in Gummidipoondi, exploded spewing the metal on the workers.
Seven employees, all of whom are migrant labourers, were rushed to the burns unit of the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.
On arrival at the hospital, Kariban (25) and Shankar Prasad (45) of Bihar, Veerendar Raj (35) of Uttar Pradesh, Mithun (21) of Orissa and Mahendar Tirupathi (35) of Bihar, were declared dead. Y Krishnan (30) from Nepal and Umesh Singh (36) of Bihar sustained 22 per cent and 50 per cent burn injuries respectively.
The prima facie investigation shows that the explosion was caused due to a technical snag, said M C Sarangan, superintendent of police, Tiruvallur district to Express. According to the scientific team, which conducted a preliminary investigation, the explosion could have occurred due to the disproportionate supply of nitrogen and oxygen being passed through a chamber to facilitate the boiling of the scrap metal which was being heated through a power supply of 6000 KV, said Sarangan.
SIPCOT fire station officer Chandrababu told Express that two employees from Tulsyan came to the fire station located a few metres from the factory at 2 am informing them of the explosion. The fire engine rushed to the spot and the officers fought the blaze for nearly 13 hours after which it was doused. As the factory had a basic fire extinguisher with water, the fire fighters were able to control the explosion with just one additional vehicle coming in from Poonamallee. “It was only because of this that we were able to control the situation and prevent the molten metal from spreading to the nearby factories,’’ he said.
A special investigation team formed under the DSP Naveen Chandran would submit a final report along with the investigations of the inspector of factories, inspector of boilers and inspector of labourers, Sarangan added. Police have registered cases under 337 and 304 (A) of the IPC against the company.