Vizag: One killed, 12 injured in explosion at factory

Visakhapatnam: An employee was killedand 12 others were injured in an explosion at Anjaneya Alloys inside AP SEZ near Atchuthapuram in the district early this morning.

As per the preliminary probe, excessive gas eruption in a furnace caused the explosion, police said.

The deceased was identified as B Biswas (40), who belonged to West Bengal. K Arun Kumar (25) and Lakshmana Rao (30) hailing from Bhogapuram were in a critical condition, police said. The injured were undergoing treatment at a private hospital here, police said.

The plant manufactures ferro manganese. A worker had died at the plant a few months ago after an overhead crane fell on him.

Blaming the management for lack of safety measures, relatives of the injured and some workers staged a protest in front of the factory today.

Andhra Pradesh HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa, Anakapalle MP M Srinivasa Rao and Yelamanchili MLA P Ramesh Babu visited the injured at the hospital.

The minister said a series of industrial accidents in Vizag were a cause for concern and a meeting with heads of all the concerned departments will be held soon.

Sub-inspector of Atchuthapuram police station S Sanyasi Rao and inspector of factories R Trinadha Rao registered cases and investigation was on.

Labour organisation CITU demanded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the relatives of the dead employee from the company.