Nine persons suffer burns as hot slag falls on them at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in Andhra Pradesh

Of the injured, four are permanent employees and five contract workers; workers’ unions point finger of blame at management

Nine persons, four of them permanent employees and five contract workers, of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), were injured when hot slag fell on them at Converter-E in SMS-2 section at around 12.25 p.m. on February 11 (Saturday).

The incident took place when the employees were engaged in clearing a track for the movement of the slag pot that was stuck. The hot slag from the pot splashed onto the nine persons after it came in contact with water, causing them burn injuries.

The four injured employees were identified as DGM Anil Dahiwale, senior manager T. Jaya Kumar, technician Eshwar Naik and chargeman Panda Sahu. The contract workers were R. Bangaraiah, Suribabu, Ch. Appalaraju, K. Srinu and S. Potaiah.

The injured were given first-aid at the Visakha Steel General Hospital (VSGH) and later shifted to the Seven Hills Super Speciality Hospital for further treatment.

RINL Chairman and Managing Director Atul Bhatt, along with Director (Commercial) D.K. Mohanty, visited the injured workers in the hospital and also met their family members.

According to the police, three of them are said to have suffered serious burns.

“Immediately after coming to know about the incident, a senior police officer reached the spot and helped the VSP officials evacuate the injured to the hospital. Based on the instructions of Commissioner of Police Ch. Srikanth, we have provided a green channel to the ambulances so that the injured can reach the hospital quickly,” DCP-II Anand Reddy told The Hindu.