Vishakapatnam: A disheartening tragedy took place at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Limited on Monday evening. A fire that erupted from chemical leaks swept away fourteen workers, out of whom eight workers unfortunately lost their lives due to the engulfment. The accident occurred around 4:15 pm, when a large ladle carrying melted iron leaked onto a crane, causing an instant explosion at the Steel Melt Shop (SMS)-1 and STC-3 of the Continuous Casting Department (CCD) facility.
At least fourteen people were close to the boiler when the 1,500 degrees Celsius molten iron fell over, affecting the shop floor and creating panic among the workers. Fire safety equipment attempted to control the expansion of the fire, but the eight workers who died were turned black due to the colossal heat. Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma, Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries, assured that four of the remaining six workers are seemingly out of danger and the other two are critical, receiving the best treatment. Shortly after the accident, when the Vizag MP Mathukumilli Sribharat and Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha reached the location of the incident, they were besieged by the enraged workers who voiced allegations about the hold of safety audits by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), or the Vizag steel plant. A set of workers expressed their frustration over the reduced workforce and increased workload after the sudden downsizing.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and HRD Minister N. Lokesh expressed their grief over the tragedy, with the PM announcing the distribution of 2 lakh rupees to every deceased worker’s family from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and a 50,000 rupees grace to the injured workers.
However, it cannot overturn the accident, and the alleged cause suggests a systemic failure. This incident marks the second steel plant mishap after the Balodabazar disaster, which cost six workers’ lives. The regulatory schools are in urgent need of scrutinizing such vulnerable industrial plants, and it is hoped that the minimisation process happens at the earliest.