Visakhapatnam: Two contract engineers were killed due to asphyxiation following a gas leak at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant here on Monday morning.
The deceased engineers have been identified as Anush Bhaskar and Rajneesh Singh. Both belonged to M/s SMS Seimag India limited, which is the contracting agency, executing the Steel Melt Shop-II project work as a part of VSP expansion plan.
The mishap occurred when the two engineers were on a routine inspection to a container laboratory at SMS-II, where carbon monoxide pressure is maintained for steel production. Minutes after both the engineers entered the laboratory, they were said to have collapsed.
Anush and Rajneesh were immediately rushed to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant General Hospital. While one of them was declared “brought dead” by the doctors, the other engineer died while undergoing treatment.
“All the gas lines at the concerned unit were in good working condition and were closed when the incident took place. No openings were found in the main gas distribution lines. Gas lines and connected valves were also closed and fully intact. Detailed reasons for the incident are being looked into by the VSP management and the agency,” said, a senior VSP official.
Not the first time
February 6, 2012: There was a spillage of a large quantity of hot metal in the steel melting shop causing a loss of Rs 1 crore.
May 1, 2012: Two contract labourers were burnt alive and two others sustained serious burns following a blast in the newly commissioned blast furnace-III.
May 22, 2012: A conveyor belt carrying raw material to the new blast furnace melted at the sinter plant after it caught fire. Production loss of Rs 1 crore.
June 13, 2012: Massive explosion at the oxygen plant in SMS-II killed 19 persons.
July, 2, 2012: Six contract workers fell ill after gas leaked from a pipeline in the SMS-I.
January 21, 2013: 10 employees were rushed to hospital due to suffocation after gas leaked at one of the units in VSP.
