Steam Leak In Tata Steel’s Odisha Plant, 2 With Burns In Intensive Care

Bhubaneswar: Two persons, who sustained critical burn injuries when the steam pipeline of the blast furnace in a power plant of Tata Steel’s Meramundali works burst on Tuesday, are under intensive care.

“Of the 18 burn victims admitted to a private hospital in Cuttack, two remain in intensive care under the vigilant watch of medical professionals, including a team from Tata Steel,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

It further said that condition of others is stable and they are receiving continuous high-quality care. Another individual, initially admitted for a panic attack at the incident site, is now in good health and expected to be discharged shortly, it added.

At least 18 persons sustained burns to the extent of 20 to 60 per cent in the incident, which occurred around 1 pm when a team of workers and plant officials were reportedly working on the maintenance of the blast furnace pipeline. The injured include one engineer, a supervisor and the rest contractual workers. They were immediately rushed to the occupational health centre and later shifted to a private hospital at Cuttack.

Notably, Chief of corporate services, Tata Steel, Mohit Das had put the figure at 17, saying another worker had panicked. Dhenkanal SP Gyanaranjan Mohapatra, on the other hand, had said that around 19 persons were injured in the incident.

Also Read: 19 Injured In Blast Furnace Mishap At Tata Steel’s Meramandali Plant In Odisha

While the inspector of the factory and boilers is conducting an inquiry to fix the responsibility, Tata Steel has also started an internal investigation to ascertain the cause of the accident. The steam line busted and hot water fell on the workers during the inspection, an official of the directorate said.

(With PTI  inputs)