Toll rises in Balco plant mishap, 31 dead

Raipur: Relief and rescue work are still on at the Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) thermal power plant in Korba district of Chhattisgarh where a chimney collapsed on Wednesday killing at least 31 people and trapping many others.

Korba District Magistrate Ashok Agrawal said that efforts were on to rescue those still trapped in the rubble.

"The rescue operation is on. Ambulances have taken the injured to the hospital. We are doing our best to save the trapped workers. 10 bodies have been recovered so far. We are hopeful to get the debris cleared within two days," said Agarwal

According to eyewitnesses, there was heavy rain at the time of the accident and a lighting strike could have caused the chimney to go collapse.

"While I was walking near my house I could see the chimney crashing. It fell like a stick. It was difficult to reach the spot. Around 150-200 labourers came out running and we could see mangled bodies of six to seven men. We then tried to remove the rubbles," said Narendra Mishra, an eyewitness.

The plant was being built by BALCO in Korba, some 250 km north of Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.

More than 40 workers are still feared trapped under the rubble. Rescue operations are on and cranes of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Chhattisgarh Power Company and South-Eastern Coal Fields have been pressed into action.

An FIR has been registered against BALCO following the incident and the state government, too, has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident.

The chimney collapsed when about 100 workers and engineers were engaged in the construction work of the chimney, reportedly executed by a Chinese company named SEPKO.

Officials involved in constructing the chimney said that the structure was to be 275-metre tall. The chimney was already 100-metre tall when it collapsed amid heavy rain.

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