Bihar boiler blast: 4 killed at Gopalganj; police arrests sugar mill owner

At least four labourers were killed and several others critically injured when a boiler exploded at a sugar mill in Gopalganj district in the early hours of today, police said.

After the boiler explosion, angry workers went on a rampage in the mill, setting fire to vehicles parked inside the premises, the police said.

"The explosion took place at the Sasa Musa sugar mill under the Kuchaykot police station area at around 2 am. Three bodies have been recovered from the site of the incident," Senior Superintendent of Police, Gopalganj, Mrityunjay Kumar said.

Ten injured persons have been taken to the Gopalganj sadar hospital. The condition of some of the injured is stated to be critical, the SSP said.

"We fear that the death toll may rise as workers claim that more bodies may be lying buried under the debris. Moreover, rescue operations have been disrupted because a group of angry workers indulged in arson, setting fire to the vehicle of the mill owner and a tractor, both of which were parked inside the mill premises", Kumar said.

"We are trying to pacify the angry workers who allege that the boiler had been in need of repair for long but the owner paid no heed. The owner, Mehmood Ali, has been arrested", the SSP added.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announces ex-gratia of Rs 4 Lakh each for next of kin of those who have lost their lives in boiler blast site at Sasa Musa sugar mill in Gopalganj.