Kerala: 5 dead, 11 injured in blast at Cochin shipyard, Nitin Gadkari assures help to victims

At least five people were killed and 11 injured following a blast in a water tank at the Kochi Shipyard on Tuesday, reports said. The blast occurred on Sagar Bhushanship which belongs to ONGC. The injured have been taken to a hospital.

Eleven persons trapped inside the ship were evacuated and rushed to various hospitals in the city, the Cochin shipyard spokesperson told PTI.

Police and fire and rescue service personnel have rushed to the yard to carry out rescue operations.Union Minister Nitin Gadkari expressed shock over the mishap.

Gadkari said, "Shocked by the unfortunate blast at Cochin Shipyard where 4 people have died. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families. I have spoken to MD, Cochin Shipyard and asked him to provide all necessary medical support to victims and to initiate an inquiry with help of concerned agencies."

Cochin shipyard is one of the leading shipbuilding and repair yards in India, which has an infrastructure that combines economy, scale, and flexibility, and has ISO 9001 accreditation. CSL also has an exclusive area set for offshore construction and future expansion.

As one of India's top 10 public sector undertakings, CSL has been rated excellent by the Government of India, four times in a row for achieving the targets set for the yard under the MOU system

More details are awaited.

OneIndia News