International Steel Mills

Bhushan Steel Suffers Explosion & Fire

November 17, 2013

Last week Bhushan Steel, an Indian steel mill known for its exports of coated steel products to the United States, suffered a devastating explosion and fire which has killed at least one person and injured five others. The blast occurred when Bhushan was attempting to commission a blast furnace.

Reports out of India suggest that molten pig iron came into contact with water resulting in a severe blast and fire.

According to The Business Standard newspaper out of India, “A probe of the incident was conducted by various agencies. P.C. Dash, director of factories and boilers, said preliminary investigation has revealed the Bhushan authorities did not take permission or follow standard operating procedure before commissioning the blast furnace II, which led to the severe blast.”

Forty-two foreign engineers working at Bhushan Steel plant in Dhenkanal left the site earlier today due to security concerns.

The BJP party is calling for the plant owner to be arrested under the National Security Act.

The Business Standard reported:

“The conspicuous absence of the Bhushan Steel managing director five days after the blast took place shows that he has admitted his mistake. Such a person should be booked under the NSA as no other law would keep him behind bars,” Bijaya Mohapatra, a senior BJP leader told media persons after his visit to the plant site.

On the other hand, BSL maintained that it was only an accident and was not planned. “It was just an accident. Even the investigation conducted by the state government has found that only one person was killed and five were injured,” said A K Raina, executive director of the company. (Source: Business Standard)