3 Workers Die in Explosion at Cement Plant

Three workers were killed when an oxygen cylinder exploded at a cement factory in Chhattisgarh's Baloda Bazar district on Tuesday, local police in Central India said.

The incident took place at UltraTech Cement's plant in Hirmi area around 3:10 p.m.

Lakesh Kumar Gayakwad (21), Shatruhan Lal Verma (27) and Umesh Kumar Verma (26), all contractual workers, were killed in the explosion.

The three men had been at the cement factory for repair work and were killed after the oxygen cylinder brought by them exploded due to an unknown reason on Tuesday afternoon in Chhattisgarh’s Baloda Bazar district, the The Indian Express newspaper stated. 

“There was some pipeline-related repair work in the factory. A private company was hired to do the repair work. The three deceased were hired by this private company. The three men, a welder and two helpers, had gone there with the oxygen cylinder to do the work,” said a police official.

“Some time after they reached the factory, the cylinder exploded leading to their deaths. We are investigating what led to the blast,” added the police official. The impact was such that one of the workers was thrown 20 feet away from the spot.

A case of accidental deaths has been noted, and an investigation is ongoing to find out if anyone is negligent according to police.