Fire at Bhilai Steel Plant kills at least 9, leaves several with burns
09 Oct 2018
A fire in a gas pipeline at Steel Authority of India’s (SAIL) Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh today killed at least nine people, and left several others with burn injuries, the company said.
SAIL said the fire broke out in a gas pipe line of the coke oven battery complex No 11 at the Bhilai Steel Plant at around 10.30 am today. The fire broke out during a scheduled maintenance job, it said, adding that nine persons have lost their lives while 14 others are undergoing medical treatment for burn injuries.
All resources have been mobilised to provide adequate care to the injured. SAIL is providing all the support to the families of the affected, SAIL stated in a release.
Reports quoting officials said the toll could be more as it is difficult to count the dead and assess the damage, reports quoting police officials said.
Bhilai Steel Plant is India’s sole producer and supplier of rails for Indian Railways, and a major producer of a large variety of wide and heavy steel plates and structural steel, according to the company’s website.
The plant has annual steel production capacity of 3.153 million tonnes, with products including wire rods, according to SAIL.
Minister of state for steel Vishnudeo Sai, steel secretary, Binoy Kumar and SAIL chairman Saraswati Prasad along with other senior officers have rushed to Bhilai to take stock of the situation and stand by the bereaved families, according to a government release.