Chg: 5 workers suffer burns as molten iron falls on them

Five workers of a sponge iron factory in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district suffered burns when molten iron fell on them, the police said today.

Two of the workers are in a critical condition.

The incident occurred last evening in the blast furnace section of Prakash Sponge Iron Industries, located in Kotadabri village, police said.

"As per preliminary information, the power supply went off for about 2-3 hours in the factory, following which hot molten iron got over-stocked in the furnace causing leakage of the molten metal," said Station House Officer (Champa police station) Rajesh Choudhary.

He said five labourers who were working nearby came in contact with the molten metal and suffered burns.

They are identified as Shambhu Lal Khunte, Dil Kumar Banjare, Ramcharan Sahu, Kamlesh and Paan Sen Yadav, the officer said.

"The injured workers were rushed to a local hospital from where Khunte and Banjare were shifted to Raipur in view of their critical condition," the SHO said.

A case has been registered, Choudhary said, adding that a probe is underway.

Further action will be taken accordingly, he said.

When contacted, senior factory officials refused to comment.