Srisailam power plant fire mishap: Won't come back, engineer tells wife before dying

HYDERABAD: Engulfed in thick smoke and choking every second, some of the trapped engineers inside the hydroelectricity power station at Srisailam bid final goodbyes to their families.
"I may or may not be able to come back home. The situation is bad and difficult. It looks impossible for us to get out of this. Take care of the children. This may be the last time I could be speaking to you," assistant engineer Dharavath Sundar Naik told his family.
Near the plant, his family waited in hope, that he would be rescued. But as fate would have it, his body was finally brought out some 16 hours after he last spoke to his wife.
Sundar Naik of Jagan Thanda in Chivemula of Suryapet, was also a Covid-19 warrior.
"It was 20 days ago that he recovered and joined back duties," a friend told TOI by telephone. Naik was among the nine victims, who perished in the fire.
Naik had called his family from a landline in the power plant. Divisional engineer Srinivas Goud also called up his family to describe how bad the situation was inside and they don't have time.
Some bodies found near exit gate
I don’t have time, please ask them to rescue us now,” he said in the SOS call made to his wife.
Some of them also made videos showing how they were trying to put out the fire by themselves.
A senior official also received a call from one of the engineers and pleaded for help.
“If in 10 minutes you cannot rescue us, we will die. So, if you can do something, do it quickly,” the official quoted the engineer as having said.
The fact that their bodies were found near the exit gate also showed how they tried to save themselves.
“There was no power. It was dark. We did not know where to go but slowly some of us found our way to the exit gate and could get out,” an employee who was able to get out of the premises in time said.
He was among the six others who were hospitalised by officials.