5 Indian workers injured in explosion at iron plant in Nepal

Five Indian workers were injured in an explosion at an iron plant Wednesday in southern Nepal, bordering India, a media report said.

All the injured were working as daily wage labourers at the iron plant in Simara Sub-Metropolitan City-2 of Jitpur, Bara, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Four of the injured are said to be in critical condition and undergoing treatment at the Birgunj-based Health Care Hospital, the paper said.

The injured have been identified as Kamalesh Raya, 22, Naresh Sahani, 23, Sandeep Kumar, 23, Pankaj Kumar, 20, of Sitamadi, Bihar and Binayak Singh, 35, of Motihari, Bihar.

According to the police, the incident occurred when they were melting the iron in the run-down furnace. Police have suspected that the incident might have occurred due to excessive heat.

Most of the equipment being used at the plant were old and in sorry state, the paper said.

Nine persons were killed and more than a dozen injured when a tank used to store molasses exploded in Bidyanagar of Bara four months ago.

"Factories show the maintenance of equipment only in paper," a worker said, adding, "But they never repair the equipment."