UP: 20 killed, nearly 100 injured in boiler blast at NTPC unit in Raebareli

Death toll is likely to increase and many more are feared trapped inside the 500 megawatt unit  located at Unchahar.

Kumar Abhishek  | Posted by Bijin Jose
New Delhi, November 1, 2017 | UPDATED 08:16 IST

At least 20 people were killed and scores sustained injuries after a boiler unit of the NTPC exploded in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli district on Wednesday evening.

The death toll is likely to increase.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "deeply pained" by the incident.

The NTPC initiated a probe to ascertain the reasons behind the blast, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 for the grievously injured, officials said.

"Twenty deaths have been confirmed by the district administration. Twenty-two people with severe burns have been referred to Lucknow. Another 15 are admitted to a Rae Bareli hospital," UP's ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said.

Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said that 90-100 people were injured in the blast.

NTPC STATEMENT

In a statement, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) said that at unit number six of its Unchahar plant, there was a sudden abnormal sound at 20-meter elevation around 3:30 in the afternoon. There was an opening in corner number two from which hot flue gases and steam "escaped" affecting the people working around the area, the central public sector undertaking said.

It added that around 80 people were rushed to NTPC hospital, most of whom were discharged after first-aid.

The 1,550-MW plant supplies electricity to nine states, according to officials, and employs around 870 people.

RAHUL TO VISIT RAEBARELI TODAY

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will take a break from election campaign in Gujarat to visit Raebareli today to meet the families of the victims.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is the MP from the Unchahar sub-division in Raebareli, conveyed her deepest condolences to thefamilies of the bereaved.

However, she will not travel to Raebareli today due to her poor health.

District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri said 40 ambulances were immediately pressed into service.

Chief Medical Officer of Rae Bareli D K Singh, along with a team of 10 doctors, was deployed to carry out immediate treatment to the injured, the district magistrate said.

He also said that arrangements have been made to bring the serious cases to KGMU Hospital and the Civil Hospital in Lucknow.

Some of the injured were being sent to Rae Bareli, Khatri said. CMO Singh said that, if necessary, some of the critical cases could be referred to Delhi by air ambulance.

(Inputs from PTI)