A boiler exploded in the thermal power plant of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation on Wednesday, killing 6 contract workers and injuring 17 with burn injuries. The accident took place at the fifth unit of the Centre-run thermal power station-II (210 MW x 7) when workers were in the process of resuming operations in the morning.
It was reported that when this explosion had happened, the boiler had been out of operation. The six men who had died were aged between 25 and 42 years. The area has been cordoned off to prevent villagers around the area from entering the facility. The injured workers were given first aid in the NLCIL hospital and were later referred to a hospital in Chennai for further treatment.
Speaking about this, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, had expressed condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives. He also added that he had spoken to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami about providing all possible help to the families of the fallen.
The labour union, as well as various political fronts, have been blaming the management for the frequent accidents that have been happening in the plant. Notably, this is the second time this year that an incident like this has happened at the NLC. In May, eight workers had sustained injuries due to a similar incident. There have been five incidents in the same plant over the last 18 months.