ANGUL: Three workers died after reportedly being suffocated in a sponge iron plant at Paranga under Nisha police limits here on Monday night.
The deceased were identified as Mangal Majhi, Pintu Kumar and Sridhar Baghei, all in their thirties and residents of Sundargarh district. The tragic mishap took place place in the plant of Sree Metaliks.
Police sources said about six workers were engaged in maintenance work of a sponge iron pipeline in the factory at around 9.30 pm on Monday. While cleaning the pipe, three of them became serious due to suspected leakage of toxic gases.
Plant authorities decided to take the injured workers to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack instead of Angul district headquarters hospital. However, on way to Cuttack, condition of the three workers became critical following which they were admitted to nearby Hindol hospital in Dhenkanal district at around midnight. The doctors pronounced them brought dead.
Following the deaths, hospital authorities informed Hindol police which in turn alerted their counterparts in Nisha under whose jurisdiction the mishap took place. Subsequently, Nisha police reached Hindol hospital and informed family members of the deceased workers. After postmortem, police handed over the bodies to their respective families.
Angul SP Rahul Jain said basing on the complaint of the deceased workers’ family members, a case of negligence has been registered against the Sree Metaliks authorities in Nisha police station. Investigation is underway to determine the circumstances which led to the death of the workers.
Meanwhile, the mishap sparked panic among the workers. On Tuesday, officials of the Factory and Boiler department reached the sponge iron plant and initiated an inquiry. Attempts to contact the sponge iron plant authorities proved futile.
