A total of nine people were injured in the blast that took place at the Jharkhand Ispat Plant Private Limited in Hesla. (Express Photo)
One worker died and seven suffered severe burns in a furnace explosion at a plant in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district on Monday.
A total of nine people were injured in the blast that took place at the Jharkhand Ispat Plant Private Limited in Hesla. According to Ramgarh police, the blast took place at around 4 am while work was underway at the plant. Officers said the explosion was so powerful that it triggered panic in the surrounding area. Workers near the furnace were caught in molten iron and flames, they said, adding that production activities were immediately halted following the incident.
All the injured were initially taken for treatment to Ramgarh town, after which the critically injured were referred to Ranchi, where a worker named Ashok Bedia later died during treatment at Dev Kamal Hospital, officials at the hospital said.
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The injured have been identified as Akhil Rai, Brijlal Bedia, Rajbalan Yadav, Mahesh Mahto, Ashok Bedia, Pandit Ji (Raju Jha), Chhotu Saw and Suresh Bedia.
Ramgarh police station in-charge Naveen Prakash Pandey said the blast appeared to be related to excessive furnace temperature. “Preliminary findings suggest that the explosion may have been caused by a technical fault or negligence of safety standards, though the exact cause is yet to be ascertained,” he said.
He said no complaint or FIR has been registered yet in connection with the incident.
Police and administrative officials reached the spot soon after the incident and have initiated an inquiry. “Police and forensic teams are working to ascertain the exact cause of the blast,” said Pandey.
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The incident has triggered anger among local residents and labour organisations, who have accused the plant management of ignoring safety norms and demanded strict action.
While talking about the investigation, Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner Faiz Aq Ahmed Mumtaz said that as far as the investigation is concerned, this is an industrial matter and not within the district’s mandate. “It is a technical issue, which will be examined by the industry and technical experts themselves. If it were a furnace or boiler blast, then what exactly caused it, whether excessive heat or something else, is something only the industry will be able to determine. It is a private company,” he said.
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