Jharkhand: Three engineers killed, one injured in blast at Ramgarh factory

Ramgarh, Aug 22 (IANS) Three engineers were killed and an employee was seriously injured after a boiler blast at the power plant of Maa Chhinnamastika Cement and Ispat in Hehal under Barkakana police station limits of Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district late on Friday night.

The injured employee, identified as Hazaribagh resident Tarun Rajwar, has been admitted to The Hope Hospital on Ranchi Road for treatment. He is reported to be in serious condition.

The deceased have been identified as factory shift in-charge Sanjeev Kumar Kesari, 50, a resident of Ranchi; Vineet Mahto, 25, from Jageshwar Vihar in Bokaro; and Abhishek Pandey, 24, a resident of Nagar Untari in Garhwa district.

According to preliminary information, a loud explosion suddenly occurred while work was underway at the power plant, triggering panic inside the factory premises.

After receiving information about the incident, Barkakana police reached the spot and took stock of the situation. Barkakana police station in-charge Umashankar Verma said three workers were killed in the incident, while another sustained serious injuries and was sent to Ranchi for better treatment.

Preliminary findings suggest that a technical malfunction may have occurred after the temperature in the power plant system rose excessively. It is also suspected that the blast occurred after the protection system failed and the turbine went into overspeed.

However, officials said the exact cause of the accident would become clear only after a detailed investigation.

The incident has triggered anger among workers and employees at the factory, who have accused the management of negligence in maintaining safety arrangements.

Employees claimed that the temperature in the power plant’s control room had been rising continuously for some time and that the air conditioner there was not functioning properly, making it difficult to work inside the room.

According to the workers, the management and concerned officials had been informed about the problem several times. They said temperature readings were regularly taken using a temperature gun and the information was also conveyed to the management.

Despite this, the cooling system was allegedly not repaired in time.

Workers claimed that the accident could have been prevented if the cooling arrangements in the control room had been restored promptly and safety standards had been implemented seriously.

Following the blast, employees have demanded an impartial investigation into the incident. They have also sought adequate compensation for the families of the deceased engineers and proper medical treatment for the injured employee.

–IANS

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