Fire in SAIL's central Indian steel plant kills at least nine
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A fire in a gas pipeline at a plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd’s in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday killed at least nine people, the company said.
Vehicles wait at the entrance gate of state-run SAIL's steel plant in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India October 9, 2018 in this still image from video provided by Reuters TV. ANI News via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS STILL IMAGE FROM VIDEO WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. INDIA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN INDIA. MANDATORY CREDIT: ANI NEWS. REUTERS TV RESTRICTIONS: BROADCASTERS: NO USE INDIA DIGITAL: NO USE INDIA . FOR REUTERS CUSTOMERS ONLY.
“Nine persons have lost their lives and 14 are undergoing medical treatment,” state-run SAIL, one of India’s biggest steel producers, said in a statement.
The fire, which occurred during a scheduled maintenance job at its Bhilai plant, has now been controlled, SAIL said. There was no immediate comment from the company on whether production was affected.
“It is very difficult to say how many more have died, as some bodies are charred,” a police official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media, told Reuters.
Shares of SAIL fell as much as 4.2 percent to a near one-year low on the news.
Bhilai Steel Plant is India’s sole producer and supplier of rails for Indian Railways, and a major producer of a large variety of wide and heavy steel plates and structural steel, according to the company’s website.
The plant has annual steel production capacity of 3.153 million tonnes, with products including wire rods, according to SAIL.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Manolo Serapio Jr.
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