Banarpal: Five employees sustained critical burn injuries in a flashover incident during an electrical repairing work at captive power plant (CPP) of Nalco in Angul district late Tuesday night. The injured were identified as technical officers Sushant Kumar Samal, Anil Gadnayak, Soubhagya Bal, employee Gajendra Chhatria and contractual worker Manoj Pradhan.
All were initially admitted to the Nalco hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Cuttack for advanced treatment. According to reports, the incident occurred around 12 am in the ESP switchgear area of the CPP after a sudden electrical fault disrupted the power supply across the unit.
Work came to a halt, prompting authorities to call in experienced contractual worker Manoj to help restore the system. A technical team was carrying out modular changes in the ESP power system when the flashover occurred, leaving five personnel with severe burn injuries.
They were rescued by co-workers and rushed to the hospital. Following preliminary treatment, all the injured were transferred to a private medical facility in Cuttack. After the incident, plant authorities tightened safety measures and launched an investigation.
Initial findings suggest that a technical fault or high voltage may have triggered the flashover. Efforts to contact Nalco officials for comment were unsuccessful.