16 dead, 100 hurt in NTPC boiler blast in Raebareli

Lucknow: Sixteen labourers were killed and over 100 injured when a pipe connected to a boiler exploded in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) unit in Rae Bareli on Wednesday evening. Most of the victims were laborers working at the plant.

ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar confirmed that 16 bodies had been retrieved and rescue operations were on. Four managers of the plant have also been injured. The plant has been shut down after the accident.

Soon after the accident occurred, the NTPC gates were shut and mediapersons were not allowed entry. CRPF personnel were deployed in large numbers on the campus.

The injured labourers were taken to the NTPC hospital for treatment. Those with serious injuri-es were being brought to Lucknow. Some have been admitted in private hospitals in Rae Bareli.

A massive fire broke out inside and a huge ball of dust rose after the explosion making rescue operations difficult. There was no official statement on the incident, but sources said that there were about 150 labourers working on the shift when the mishap took place.

Sources said that the explosion took place in a boiler which is filled with water in tubes that are heated. This creates steam which moves the turbines and generates electricity. A district official said that the ash pipe exploded due to pressure.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is presently in Mauritius, has directed the principal secretary (home) to ensure all steps for relief and rescue at the accident.

He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for those seriously injured.

Senior officials, including medical teams, reached the site of the accident to supervise rescue operations. Principal ho-me secretary said that a 32 member NDRF team had also reached Rae Bareli.

UP health minister Siddhartha Nath Singh said that all hospitals in adjoining districts had been put on alert.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi expressed his concern in a tweet and appealed to the district administration to extend all possible help to the victims.

The power plant is one of the coal based power plants of NTPC. In 1992, the UP State Electricity Board had transferred the Unchahar Thermal Power Plant to NTPC against payment overdue and it was later renamed Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Plant.