President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed grief on the mishap in the Srisailam hydroelectric plant in Telangana which has claimed nine lives. 

The fire broke out late on Thursday night when at least 17 people were inside the plant and eight of them managed to come out, officials said. 

"Pained by the loss of lives in the tragic fire accident at Srisailam hydroelectric plant in Telangana. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I wish speedy recovery for the injured," President Kovind said in a tweet. 

"Fire at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest," Modi said in a tweet. 

A massive fire broke out inside the powerhouse of the Srisailam left bank Hydroelectricity project on the Telangana-Andhra Pradesh at around 10:30 pm. While eight of the 17 people present inside at the moment managed to get out, nine were trapped. 

Six bodies have been recovered by rescue teams so far and efforts were on to pull out the others from the underground plant, an official said. 

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao expressed shock over the incident.

The Chief Minister also reviewed ongoing relief measures and spoke to Telangana Power Minister Jagdeeshwar Reddy to update himself about the incident. Telangana Minister for Power Jagadeeswar Reddy, Nagarkurnool district collector L Sarman, Telangana Transco, GENCO CMD Prabhakar Rao, local MLA G Balaraju, were among those who visited the site.