3 die in gas leak at Jindal steel plant

KBPrashant (26) of Kagatur Okha village in Chennagiri taluk, Davangere district, HMMallikarjun (25) of Oddu village in Sandur taluk, Bellary district, and Manjunath Patil (26) of Herekanahalli village are the dead.

Lack of precautionary measures is the cause of the incident, said District Superintendent of Police Dr Chandragupta, who visited the spot. A case has been registered at the Toranagal police station.

The incident occurred when the trio came to the gas container at the blast furnace unit 2 of the energy management division (EMD), climbed down into the ‘U’ seal pot and turned the valve on to check the pipeline.

Naveen, another worker, had a narrow escape as he had gone to check another pipeline nearby. Prashant had been working as the assistant manager of EMD. Mallikarjun and Manjunath had been working in the factory on contract for two years and had been recruited through Real Technical Solutions.

The three men had gone to check the gas container on getting information from the control room that the gas level had slumped.

Meanwhile, Sandur MLA E Tukaram, along with the family members of the deceased, met the factory management.

The factory has agreed to give Rs 13 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of HM Mallikarjun and a permanent job for his wife and Rs 12 lakh to the next of kin of Manjunath Patil and a permanent job for his younger brother. This has been done as both these employees were working on contract basis. The other employee, KBPrashant, was a permanent employee and his next of kin would be getting the compensation and other benefits in accordance with the company rules.