Ramgarh: Three engineers were charred to death and another employee suffered critical burn injuries after a turbine exploded and a fire engulfed the control room of a captive power plant at a private sponge iron factory in Ramgarh district’s Hehal village on Friday night.Patratu circle officer Manoj Kumar Chaurasia, who visited the site, told TOI that the turbine exploded because of overheating. The impact was so severe that flames engulfed the control room within minutes, trapping personnel inside.The deceased were identified as Sanjiv Kumar Keshari, 50, of Ranchi, Vineet Kumar Mahto, 25, of Kunda village in Bokaro district’s Gomia block, and Abhishek Pandey, 24, of Garhwa. The injured employee, Tarun Rawani, was admitted to a Ramgarh hospital.Police and fire brigade teams rushed to the plant and battled the blaze for hours before bringing it under control. The three bodies were recovered from the plant premises and sent for postmortem examination.Ramgarh deputy commissioner Rituraj said a probe panel headed by SDO Krishna Murari Tirkey had been formed to investigate the incident. Chief factory inspector Manish Sinha said a team from the department’s Hazaribag zonal office had been directed to inspect the factory and examine the accident from the safety angle.Barkagaon MLA Roshan Lal Choudhary, who visited the factory on Saturday morning, alleged serious safety lapses and accused the management of failing to ensure safety of workers. He demanded a high-level probe, strict action against the factory owner and officials responsible, adequate compensation, and a govt job for one member of each bereaved family.Hundreds of villagers gathered outside the factory gate and demanded action against those responsible for the accident, enforcement of safety measures, compensation and employment support for the victims’ families.
