Five killed as power plant structure collapses

The platform in an under-construction cooling tower in the Korba West Power Company Limited (KWPCL) in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh crashed on Saturday killing five labourers and injuring a few others.

The power plant is part of the Avantha (Gautam Thapar) Group that is coming up near Bade Bhandar village, about 20 km from the district headquarters of Raigarh. The plant will have a capacity of 600 MW.

According to reports, about 10 labourers were working in the under-construction cooling tower when the incident took place Saturday morning. “The supporting platform in the cooling tower where the labourers were standing collapsed from 170 feet,” Superintendent of Police Anand Chabra said.

 

The workers were trapped in the debris that spread in a large area near the site. “The rescue team has recovered five bodies from the spot,” Chabra said, adding that the operation to clear the debris was on. Bad weather was however affecting the relief and rescue operations.