Fire at Steel Authority's plant, 21 people affected - Livemint

Preliminary enquiry has revealed that it happened in New Coke Oven Battery no 11. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

Mumbai: A fire broke out at a mill run by Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) at Burnpur in West Bengal at 12.15pm on Thursday that affected 21 people, of which two were admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital, the company said in a statement.

“Preliminary enquiry has revealed that it happened in the new coke oven battery No.11,” the state-owned firm said. “The fire was immediately extinguished. The incident occurred during a planned shutdown taken for carrying out rectification jobs in one of the pre-heaters of the coke oven battery.”

The company said that the affected people were provided with medical attention at the plant’s medical unit and at Burnpur hospital. Out of these, two people belonging to a contractor, BEC, have been admitted to the intensive care unit.

SAIL is India’s second-largest steel maker with a capacity of producing 16.62 million tonnes across five steel plants in eastern India. The plant in Burnpur is undergoing the final touches of a Rs.16,480-crore modernization and expansion programme to raise its steel capacity to 2.5 million tonnes a year, the website of SAIL says.