The toll in the HPCL refinery accident which occurred last Friday rose to 14 here on Wednesday, with three more workers succumbing to burns in private hospitals.
According to V.V.R Narasimham, the Executive Director, Krishna Chand (40), Mamidi Srinivas (23) and A. Appa Rao (48) died on Wednesday.
Currently, he said, 22 workers are undergoing treatment in various hospitals here and eight in the National Burns Centre in Mumbai. The condition of the workers in Mumbai is said to be stable. He said Dr. Keshavani from the National Burns Centre in Mumbai would visit Visakhaptnam on Thursday to evaluate the condition of some of the workers undergoing treatment here and to make suggestions for better treatment.
He said Rs 2 crore had been handed over to the district collector for handing over Rs 20 lakhs apiece to the families of 10 dead contract workers. The compensation of Rs 60 lakhs would be handed over on Thursday for three more workers who had succumbed to burns on Wednesday.
In response to a question, he said five to six workers were still on life support systems. He said Ian Thorpe, the expert from the UK, had visited the blast site (the cooling tower) in the refinery on Wednesday to study the accident and suggest better safety measures. He said Balakishore, the Director of Factories, AP, had also visited the site on Wednesday.