Jajpur/Kalinganagar: A casual labourer was killed while four others rendered hurt including two of them critical following a blast in a highly-combustible acid container at Jindal Stainless Steel plant in Kalinganagar of Jajpur district Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Jaladhar Pati (40) of Amporo village under Tomka police limits in Jajpur district.
The injured were identified as Golekh Barik (55) of Jhuntuna village under Bhandaripokhari police limits in Bhadrak district, Gagan Das (40) of Kusunpur village under Jajpur Road police limits, Abhimanyu Behera (40) and Nupur Barik (38) of Nuagaon village under Jajpur Road police limits. The highly-combustible acid is used in the blast furnace.
All of them worked under a private consultancy agency SS Bhanja. Among them Golekh and Gagan sustained critical injuries while others were shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. Abhimanyu and Nupur received primary treatment at a local hospital.
Sources said the mishap occurred at 12.40 pm when Jaladhar, without having technical knowledge and protective gears, was opening the acid container when it exploded with a deafening sound and ripped his body parts into pieces which were later found strewn on the plant premises. The iron splinters from the container hit him and ripped his body parts.
Eye-witnesses said Golekh and Gagan, who were at a distance, sustained critical injuries in the incident. After reports surfaced, police and mediapersons rushed to the spot but the plant authorities refused to allow them inside the plant premises.
The deceased’s family members assembled outside the plant and demanded compensation. The body of the deceased is yet to be handed over to his family members till reports last came in.
When contacted, assistant director Kedarnath Hansda of factory and boiler department said the mishap site will be visited and necessary action will be taken after completion of a probe.
Jindal’s external relations head Moti Prakash Rath said preliminary investigation has revealed that the blast occurred after a white-coloured plastic can which Jaladhar was holding suddenly opened up. He said a probe is required to ascertain the reason of the mishap. PNN
