Chh’garh: Six dead, five injured in blast at steel plant

Balodabazar: Six workers were killed and five sustained burn injuries when hot ash fell on them following an explosion at a steel plant in Chhattisgarh’s Balodabazar-Bhatapara district on Thursday morning, officials said.

The incident occurred around 9.40 am at Real Ispat and Power Ltd located in Bakulahi village, district collector Deepak Soni told news agency.

Thick black smoke was seen billowing from the factory from a long distance after the incident. Eyewitnesses said the bodies of the victims -most of them from Bihar and Jharkhand were charred. According to preliminary information, a dust settling chamber connected to a kiln, where high-temperature ash was transported, leaked following the explosion. Due to the leakage, hot ash fell on workers. Because of its extremely high temperature, six workers died on the spot while five others suffered injuries, collector Soni said.