Accident At Tata Steel Plant In Odisha, At Least 19 Injured

An accident at Tata Steel's Meramandali plant in Odisha's Dhenkanal district has injured at least 19 persons, reports claim.

It occurred following a steam pipe burst due to gas leakage. Labourers and engineers, who were doing some inspection at the blast furnace, have been injured in the incident after hot water fell on them.

"A total of 19 patients from Tata Steel's Meramandali plant in Dhenkanal were brought here. They have all suffered burns. Out of the 19 patients, two patients have also sustained fractures, and six of them are burnt above 40 per cent. One patient has sustained burns over 70 per cent are getting treated in the ICU," Dr Subrat Jena, Ashwini Hospital, Cuttack, told ANI. .

The incident occurred around 1 pm on Tuesday.

In a statement, Tata Steel said, "We are saddened to report an accident at the BFPP2 power plant due to escape of steam at Tata Steel Meramandali Works in Dhenkanal, Odisha. The accident occurred at 1:00 pm (IST) today during the course of the inspection work and has affected a few people working at the site, who were immediately shifted to a hospital for further treatment. Immediately post the accident, all the emergency protocol services were activated and the area has been cordoned off."

Tata Steel further stated that it has contacted the family members of the affected employees and is supporting them.

"We are working closely with relevant authorities on ground and have initiated an internal investigation to ascertain the cause of the accident. Safety remains our top priority and we're committed to learning from this incident. We will share updates as and when more details are available," the company added.