Indian power plant explosion kills at least 35 workers
By
Wasantha Rupasinghe
8 November 2017
At least 35 workers were killed and some 87 injured in a deadly explosion at a state-owned power plant in northern India last Wednesday. The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plant is located at Unchahar, near Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
In a statement, the company said the disaster began in unit number six of the facility, when “there was a sudden abnormal sound at 20-metre elevation and there was an opening in corner number two from which hot flue gases and stream escaped affecting the people working around the area.”
Already, it is clear that the deadly explosion was a product of lax safety practices.
The facility reportedly has a workforce of around 870. Many of them are migrant workers employed on a daily wage of just 200 rupees ($US3) a day.
An injured employee told First Post he was hit by a sudden gush of hot ash-like material. Like many of the injured, he received severe burns.
First Post quoted an unnamed officer of the plant who indicated that the real death toll may be far greater than has been acknowledged.
“I know that more than 70 people have been killed in this tragedy,” the officer said. “I was one of the persons to visit unit with the NDRF [National Disaster Response Force] team and I know that many labourers were reduced to ashes in this accident.” As many as 150 workers may have been in the plant at the time of the blast.
Mantu Barua, one of the survivors, told the media of horrific scenes. “It rained fire there,” Barua said. “Many of my friends got burnt alive and I could do nothing.”
Devastated workers’ families launched a protest outside the complex last week, alleging more bodies were buried under the ash and…