As many as 15 workers fell ill after leakage of blast furnace gas at Usha Martin, a steel manufacturing unit at Gamharia in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district on Friday. Out of the 15 affected workers, 10 fell seriously ill and were rushed to Tata Main Hospital, where they were recuperating from illness. Those who had been admitted at the Tata Main Hospital included labh Kumar Thakur, Shyam Mukherjee, Sunil Mahto, Nandlal Pradhan, Sauqat Ali, CR Thakur, Bhopna Majhi, Sitaram Murmu, Chotu Mandal and Sunil Gupta.

According to information, the gas leakage took place at BF-1 of the Usha Martin at about 1 pm and continued for half-an-hour. After over a dozen workers fell ill, the company management rushed them to the Tata Main Hospital. When contacted, an official of the company, said that 10 workers of the company fell ill after there was a leakage in the BF-1. The workers were immediately taken to the hospital.

He said the management was taking all necessary care so as to ensure that the workers may recover from the illness as soon as possible. According to the workers, when the gas leak hit BF-1 department, the workers started falling down on the ground one after another. “We were in a state of shock. There was a sense of panic at the plant. We raised an alarm and informed the control room for switching off the gas supply line. But it took about 30 minutes for stoppage of the gas,” said a worker.

The officials of Tata Main Hospital said that condition of two of the 10 patients suffering from the gas-leakage was serious. The condition of the rest eight patients was stable. A police official at the Tata Main Hospital camp police station confirmed about the arrival of 10 gas-affected workers from Usha Martin company.