Durgapur: Three contract workers died in an accident in the Durgapur Steel Plant in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district on Friday.
The Durgapur Steel Plant authorities said the three contract workers died while working on a maintenance job in a part of the unit.
“A high-level enquiry committee has also been immediately constituted to investigate the incident and ascertain the root cause so that such incidents can be avoided in future,” the Durgapur Steel Plant said in a statement, PTI reported.
The statement added that when the three contract workers were taken to the hospital, one was declared dead on arrival and the other two succumbed in the course of the treatment.
The union leaders alleged that they died after inhaling toxic gas.
The three fell unconscious while working at the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) converter.
Durgapur Steel Plant’s Hind Mazdoor Sangh union president Tapas Ray demanded adequate compensation for the family of the deceased.
The Durgapur Steel Plant is one of the integrated steel plants of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), a central public sector enterprise.
It is situated on the banks of the Damodar River in the Paschim Bardhaman district in the growing industrial city of Durgapur.
The SAIL operates and owns five integrated steel plants at Bhilai, Rourkela, Durgapur, Bokaro and Burnpur (Asansol) and three special steel plants at Salem, Durgapur and Bhadravathi. It also owns a Ferro Alloy plant at Chandrapur.