Visakhapatnam: On Monday at least eight workers were killed and six others injured after a ladle filled with molten steel broke open and exploded at the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited in Visakhapatnam, officials said.
This accident happened around 4:15pm, when around 150 tonnes of molten steel, heated to almost 1,500 degrees Celsius, was being transported as part of the steel-making process to a casting unit. The ladle went “stablebucking” and molten metal splattered onto workers who were standing nearby, officials say.
Eight workers lost their lives while six workers sustained injury during the incident, M Abhishikth Kishore, District Collector said and added possibly the landlords was responsible for the deaths. Helmsman were rushed off to hospital immediately after being injured.
Four workers reported being injured were in stable condition and two others workers were reported in critical condition, said Union Minister of State for Steel Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma. An advanced medical treatment may be required and an air ambulance has been kept at the scene for that eventuality.
The official reason for the explosion remains unknown. A detailed investigation is under way to determine if the blast was caused by a technical failure, possibly from mechanical failure or fragile support wires snapping.
The disaster is said to be “the worst accident at the steel mill in almost 14 years. The last big incident was in June 2012 when a large amount of oxygen gas leaked at an oxygen plant within the facility, and 19 workers and officials died in a large explosion.
Investigators started to conduct a safety inspection and rescue at the crash scene until late evening.