A 40-year-old worker from Bihar of a steel factory based at Shikarpur village who along with many other labourers had sustained severe burn injuries when a part of a crane carrying molten iron ore had broken on them on Monday died on Wednesday. It is learnt that over 15 labourers working in the same factory who had sustained burns during the accident are now being treated at Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi. Five of them are stated to be critical. District magistrate Deepak Rawat has ordered a probe into the incident.
The incident had occurred at the Rana Bar factory in landhaura block of Haridwar district on November 5. A major explosion had occurred as the molten ore from the broken 17-tonne capacity ladle had fallen on oxygen cylinders. A diesel generator had also caught fire, adding to the blaze.
Speaking of the matter, SHO Girsh Chand Sharma said, “The 40- year- old Joginder Yadav of Bihar has died during treatment today. A case has been registered against the factory management for negligence.” It is alleged that the general manager and supervisor of the company tried to hush-up the accident, resulting in the delayed arrival of the rescue team. The police later arrested the general manager.
Police further said that most of the workers are migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Among the other workers injured are Sattar, Waseem, Khush Naseeb, Ankit, Inam, Sachin and Rajeev. Some of them are critical, added police.