A contractor has been reported to have died after being severely burnt when molten iron fell onto him, believed to be at a temperature of about 1600 degrees Celsius, at JD Steel Plant in Borai-Rasmada block of Durg district of Chhattisgarh. Santosh Kumar Srivastava had been hailing from East Champaran district of Bihar, the deceased is said to be.
Based on the information made available, the incident happened late on October 17 while Srivastava was working on the plant as a contractor. One of the portions of a machine that was described in the report as a “Tindis machine” suddenly came down, spilling molten iron on his body.
He suffered severe burns on his upper torso and abdomen, and was rushed to Sector 9 Hospital in Bhilai for treatment. But medics were unable to save his life and Srivastava passed away around 3.30 pm on October 17.
Viral Video of the Incident Surfaces
An anonymous video that allegedly shows the crash has been posted many times on social media. The video seems to be from a camera that captured the man being engulfed in fire and running down a staircase, with people around assisting as the man struggles.
The Contractor was reported to have collapsed later. But the video’s authenticity and exact tie-in with the occurrence has not yet been officially confirmed.
Dead bodies were taken and a necessary inquest action was carried out by the police along with the post mortem action of the body. Following the examination on October 18, the body was given over to the family who were carrying it to Bihar for the last rites.
Questions Raised Over Plant Safety
The accident has brought questions about “workplace safety” practices at the steel works. Priya Sahu, a member of Durg district panchayat, claimed the death of another worker with burn injuries at another plant of the same company around 18 months ago. She said the family had demanded a payment of ₹10 lakh, after protesting.
A worker, who had sustained burn injuries and had ended up at the hospital, died there, confirmed Durg Senior Superintendent of Police Vijay Agrawal on Sunday. A marg (Inquest) case has been booked by the police and they are conducting investigations to know the circumstances of the accident and the safety measure before the accident in the facility.
An investigation is expected to help determine how the machinery malfunctioned and whether proper safety measures were taken before it happened.