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The toll in the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant accident rose to 18 on Wednesday, with two more succumbing to burns.
An explosion occurred on the night of June 13 in the oxygen plant of the steel melt shop of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd.
On Wednesday, Mr Ch. Prabhakara Rao, Deputy General Manager (Vizag steel plant), died here in a hospital and Mr R. Bhattacharya, an engineer of Dastur & Co, died in a Mumbai hospital. The last of the injured, Mr Khalsi (General Manager, Vizag Steel Plant), is struggling for life in a Mumbai hospital. His condition is said to be very critical.
Probe report by July
A high-level team headed by Mr. S.R Jain, the former chairman of the SAIL, arrived in the steel plant on Wednesday and visited the accident site to conduct a probe into the incident. The team would submit its report in July.
Mr A.P. Chowdhary, Chairman and Managing Director of the steel plant, said at a press meet here that the accident was most unfortunate and everthing was being done to help the families of the deceased employees.
They would be paid an additional ex gratia of Rs 20 lakh in addition to the usual compensation. A job would be provided to a member of the family at the executive level, depending on his/her educational qualification and the family would be allowed to stay in the steel plant quarters till the date of notional retirement of the deceased. Educational opportunities would be provided to the children in steel plant schools.
He said the steel plant had agreed to a third party safety audit before commissioning the new units constructed as a part of the expansion project.
He denied allegations made by the unions that the new units were not properly built and said it was not proper to make such sweeping charges, because an accident had occurred. He sought the co-operation of the unions and all others in instilling confidence in the employees. "We will overcome the crisis and the accident will have no bearing on the expansion project or long-term growth of the plant," he asserted.
He thanked the unions for postponing the two-day strike proposed in the last week of June against disinvestment.
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