At least seven workers were injured as a severe explosion occurred at the blast furnace of the Tata Steel’s Kalinganagar project in Jajpur district on Friday afternoon.
The bang was caused by falling of a hot melt slag on the blast furnace at around 2 pm, according to Kalinganagar police station IIC Rajib lochan Panda. However, he stated that no loss of life occurred in the blast.
While plant authorities tried to suppress the incident by describing it as a minor incident, sources said the entire plant premises quaked bitterly in the incident. The severity was such that officers and staffs working at the nearest project office ran hither and thither and some of them moved away in motor bikes and cars.
Though HR officials avoided saying about losses to reporters, it was marked that five ambulances with sirens came out of the plant premises carrying injured. At least seven persons were admitted in the nearby Gobarghati hospital. As many laborers were taking rest after lunch, actual injuries and fatalities were yet to be known.
CISF personnel have sealed the blast furnace area and are not allowing anybody to visit the accident spot. The blast furnace had been designed by the MND Dastur, Mumbai and constructed by the l&T ltd. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated it in November 2015.