15 injured as molten iron ore falls on them at Haridwar factory  

At least 15 labourers, including three teenagers, were injured when a part of a crane broke and molten iron ore it was carrying on the workers in a factory at Shikarpur village of Haridwar district, police said Monday.

The incident took place Sunday noon at the Rana Bar factory in Landaura block of the district. There was also a major explosion as the molten ore from the broken 17-tonne capacity ladle fell on oxygen cylinders. A generator too caught fire, adding to the blaze.

Five of the injured in the incident are said to be critical and are “battling for life”.

A case has been registered against the factory management for negligence and obstructing government work, station house officer Girish Chand Sharma said. The SHO said that they have arrested general manager and supervisor for not informing the police about the accident and not allowing the officials to enter the factory premises delaying the rescue and relief operations.

Sub-Inspector Pramod Kumar said that the security guards did not let the police in for considerable amount of time. It was only after additional reinforcements were called, that they were able to get inside and rescue the workers.

“We are still identifying the exact number of injured. The factory management had taken the injured workers to a nearby private hospital,” said SHO.

Most of the workers are migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, police said.

The injured have been identified as Sattar, Waseem, Khushnaseeb, Inam, Ankit, Sachin and Rajiv. Identification of others is underway, police said.

District magistrate Deepak Rawat Monday ordered a probe into the incident. A joint team of fire, labour and police departments would conduct the probe, the DM said.