ONGOLE: Twelve workers, including a minor, were injured in a blast at a boiler unit of Sri Thulasi Servo Alloys in Gundlapalli industrial area of Maddipadu mandal on National Highway 16 in Prakasam district on Friday evening. Out of the 12, three were critically injured. All the injured were rushed to KIMS Hospital in Ongole. According to sources, the blast happened at around 6 p.m. when molten iron in the boiler gushed out.
Twelve workers who were near the boiler were injured. Leaking of gas in one of the pressure units is suspected to be the reason for the blast. Fellow workers alerted police and fire officials. Maddipadu police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to KIMS Ongole.
The injured workers belong to Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal and are working under a contractor in the factory for more than one year now. The injured were identifed as Sukumar Sai Tulasi(33), Gangadhar(20),Ajay Kumar Sahi(33), Sanjay Kumar(22), P Rajkumar(15), Gajendar, Dharun Malik(27), Gularam (55), Chinmai Behra (25), Suneel Kumar (27), Manoj Patnaik (39) and Pradan(30).
Factory managing director B Madhavi said that she has given the factory on lease to people from Nagpur and upon knowing about the accident, she came to the factory to lend a helping hand. Inspector of factories T Srinivasa Rao and Town Deputy Superintendent of police B Srinivasa Rao visited the hospital and inquired from doctors about the medical condition of those injured. “It is too early to comment on the reasons behind the mishap. We will inspect the spot on Saturday. The injured are stable now and the best treatment is being provided to them,” said T Srinivasa Rao.