At least six people died and 16 suffered burn injuries in a boiler explosion at a thermal power plant in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, 1 July, M Sree Abhinav, Cuddalore Superintendent of Police said.
According to The Hindu, around 11 people who had received over 40 percent burns have been sent to Chennai for treatment, while the rest have been rushed to the NLCIL General Hospital in the township.
“A high-level enquiry has been ordered into the cause of the accident, apart from an Internal Enquiry Committee with senior executives headed by Director (Power) of NLCIL. Unit head of Thermal Power Station-II suspended pending enquiry,” said NLC India Limited, reported ANI.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BLAST
The blast took place at a power plant of the central government-owned NLC India Limited (formerly known as Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited) in Cuddalore, about 180 km from state capital Chennai.
This is the second blast at the power plant in two months. The explosion occurred at a boiler in stage-2 of the power plant, according to ANI.
The cause of the explosion, which took place at about 10 am, is still not known. However, an unidentified official told NDTV that the boiler was not in operation. “We are investigating the incident,” he said.
Meanwhile, an official told PTI that some workers were feared trapped due to the explosion.
As per reports, an internal firefighting team had also reached the spot to control the fire in the boiler area.
On 7 May, a boiler blast in Unit VI of the thermal power plant had killed five people, including two permanent staff members.
WHAT ARE THE POLITICIANS SAYING?
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakhs each to families of those who lost their lives in a boiler explosion.
“Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 have been announced for those who have sustained severe and minor injuries, respectively,” Tamil Nadu CMO stated, as per ANI.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he was anguished to learn about the incident. He said that he had spoken to Palaniswami and assured help.
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