Boiler blast in Bihar kills five, many hurt

Patna: A massive explosion ripped a boiler at the sugar mill in Gopalganj district of Bihar on Wednesday night, killing at least five people and leaving several others critically injured.

A large number of injured were rushed to Gopalganj district hospital while others were referred to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) and neighboring Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh for treatment. Sources claim that over 100 workers were on duty when the boiler exploded.

The explosion triggered panic among workers who later went on a massive rampage and burnt vehicles parked inside the mill premises. “The mill owner ignored the maintenance of boiler which exploded due to overheating”, a relative of one of the victim told this newspaper. The police after an initial probe arrested sugar mill owner Mohammad Ali along with his two sons. Government insiders said that that CM has ordered a high-level probe. Mr. Kumar had earlier announced a compensation of `4 Lakh each for the family members of those who died in the boiler explosion.

RJD Chief Lalu Yadav expressed deep shock and grief over the tragedy. He also appealed to the people to maintain peace and cooperate with the authorities in their probe.

Former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, however, blamed the state government for the incident and said, “Timely monitoring was not done which led to the killing of so many innocent workers. Only state government officials are to be blamed for the incident”.