Barbil: Three workers of Ariya Iron and Steel Company Private Ltd (AISCO) suffered critical injuries after an oxygen cylinder exploded Sunday afternoon. The company is situated at Matkambeda on Barbil- Bolani road in Keonjhar district. The injured have been identified as Prem Shankar Sharma, Krishna Das and Karan Mohanta of Sadhusingh locality in this town. All three were rushed to the Keonjhar district headquarters hospital (DHH) where they are undergoing treatment. Doctors said that their condition is critical.
Initially, the three were taken to the Barbil community health but were later shifted to the DHH as their condition deteriorated. Sources said an agency has received the contract to supply oxygen cylinders to the plant. The incident occurred when a vehicle of the agency arrived with oxygen cylinders at the plant premises. The three were unloading the cylinders when one of those accidentally fell on the ground and exploded. Pravesh Pandey, an official of the company said all necessary steps have been taken for the treatment of the three injured persons.
Explaining the reason behind the explosion, Pandey said that the front nozzle of the cylinder hit the ground hard, leading to the blast. The incident sparked tension among other workers of the plant. They demanded an inquiry into the incident. They also demanded better safety measures inside the plant. Earlier the plant had hit the headlines for allegedly increasing air and water pollution in the locality.
Sources alleged that many times the effluents of the plant were directly discharged into the Karrow River resulting in its pollution. Similarly, due to careless transportation of pellets, many of those fall on the road from the trucks leading to frequent accidents.
