Three Workers Die Of Suffocation After Gas Leak In Sponge Iron Factory In Odisha's Angul

Dhenkanal: At least three workers died following a gas leakage while cleaning a machine at a steel and sponge iron plant in Nisha industrial area of Odisha's Angul district.

The incident took place late on Monday night. Officials said the affected workers were rushed to Hindol Sub-Divisional Hospital, but doctors declared them dead.

The deceased have been identified as Sridhar Begun (37) and Mantu Kamar (37) of Tarkuda village in Tangarpalli block, and Mangala Majhi (40) of Sunakhani village in Rajgangpur.

Officials at the Hindol Hospital said that the three died because of suffocation. The gas leakage took place at the power plant side of the sponge iron factory. There were six workers working there when the incident occurred. Three of them were rescued by the factory’s rescue team and are safe.

One of the factory workers, Sushant Rout said, "We were taking them to Cuttack SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. But seeing their critical condition, the ambulance driver rushed them to the Hindol Sub Divisional Hospital in Dhenkanal district."

Ambulance driver Jitendra Sethi said, "We received a call that the workers were in a critical condition. The factory authorities asked us to take them to Cuttack SCB Medical College and Hospital but we took them to Hindol Sub-Divisional Hospital as their pulse had dropped and they were not breathing."

"The cause of the gas leakage is yet to be ascertained. An investigation is currently underway," said an official.