Several workers feared trapped; second blast at the power plant in two months
Several workers are feared trapped at the power plant. Source: Twitter / @MSreesabareesan
At least six people died and 17 were injured in a boiler blast at the thermal power station of Neyveli Lignite Corp Ltd in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore July 1, 2020. This is the second boiler blast in the power plant in the last two months.
The blast took place at a power plant of the central government-owned NLC India Ltd (formerly known as Neyveli Lignite Corp Ltd) in Cuddalore, about 180 kilometres from Chennai. This is the second blast at the power plant in two months.
Several workers were feared trapped, according to news agency Press Trust of India.
The incident took place when workers were about to resume operations in the morning.
Tamil Nadu: Explosion at a boiler in stage -2 of the Neyveli lignite plant. 17 injured persons taken to NLC lignite hospital. Visuals from the spot. More details awaited. https://t.co/jtaOudE9P0 pic.twitter.com/FWKYNsePVO
— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2020
“Two men died on the spot. Some workers are feared trapped and 16 others have sustained injuries,” the official told PTI. He added that the injured have been rushed to a hospital in Chennai.
The explosion in two boilers at the power plant in May had killed two workers and injured eight workers.
A spate of similar incidents occurred in the last few months. Two people were killed and four hospitalised after a gas leak at a pharmaceuticals firm in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam June 29, 2020.
The Visakhapatnam ‘unit’ of Sainor Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, in the city’s Parwada area, reported a leak of benzimidazole gas at 11.30 pm.
On May 7, styrene gas leak at a chemical factory owned by LG Polymers Ltd in Visakhapatnam left 11 dead. More than 1,000 people became sick after being exposed to the gas and had to be hospitalised, according to the National Disaster Response Force.
On May 6, seven workers had to be hospitalised due to a gas leak at a paper mill in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh. Two accidents in chemical factories in Gujarat — one in Dahej and the other in Ankleshwar — occurred on June 3 and June 11 respectively.
An explosion at a pesticide factory owned by Yashashvi Rasayan Pvt Ltd in Dahej left at least eight dead and more than 50 workers injured. Around 4,800 people in two villages were evacuated.
One person died and four were injured in a blast at a chemical factory in Ankleshwar, in Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation’s chemical estate.
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