Boiler explodes at thermal plant in Tamil Nadu, 8 sustain burn injuries

A boiler at an NLC India thermal power plant exploded here on Thursday leading to a brief spurt of blaze causing serious burn injuries to two contract workers and comparatively milder wounds to six others, who have been hospitalised, an official said here.

The mishap occured at the sixth unit of the Thermal Power Station-II, in the evening and two workers sustained serious burn injuries, an NLC official told PTI. "Due to pressure, there was an explosion in the boiler and it led to a flash fire injuring six workers and two technicians," he said when asked on the accident. The boiler is 84-meter high and when the accident occured, the workers and technicians were at a height of about 32 meters, the official added.

Following the accident, the power generation was halted and the injured were rushed to a private hospital in Tiruchirappalli (about 147 km from here) after first aid and treatment at an in-house health facility. On preliminary assessment at the health facility, doctors said two contract workers sustained serious burn injuries while the wounds of others were comparatively minor. The TPS-II is a 1,470 MW facility and has seven 210 MW units currently generating 450 MW power.