The toll in the HPCL Visakha refinery accident which occurred on August 23 rose to 23 here on Sunday, with four more workers succumbing to burn injuries. There was a blast and fire in the cooling tower of the refinery on that day.

Subhash Lohra, 25, M.V Ramana, 45, and K. Tata Rao, 60, succumbed to burns here in different private hospitals on Sunday, taking the toll to 23. Of the 23, only one was a regular employee of the HPCL and the rest were contract workers.

Cleaning of debris from the accident site has been completed, according to a press release. Ch. Appala Reddy, E. Eswara Rao and Dilip Chakravarthy who were undergoing treatment in a private hospital were discharged on Saturday. With this, 6 workers have been discharged. Ten contract workers are currently undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the city.

Out of the 8 workers air-lifted to Mumbai for treatment at the National Burns Centre, Sambu Manna (55) succumbed to injuries. The post-mortem of the body was carried out in Mumbai and the body was flown to Kolkata.

Compensation amounting to Rs 3.6 crore has been handed over to the district Collector for handing over to the dependants of the dead workers. The compensation for the 4 workers who died on Sunday would be handed over on Monday, adds the release.

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