Srisailam Plant Fire: 6 Dead in Blaze at Telangana Hydroelectric Power Plant, 3 Feared Trapped

Hyderabad, August 21: At least six deaths were confirmed in the fire that erupted at the Srisailam hydroelectric power plant in Telangana. Their bodies were recovered after nearly 12 hours of rescue operation. Three other workers of the plant are feared to be trapped inside. KCR Issues Statement on Accident, Directs Minister to Monitor Rescue Ops.

The hydroelectric power plant is based in the region of Telangana bordering with Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district. The blaze reportedly erupted at around 10:30 pm last night, when 19 people were on shift. The fire started in the underground unit of the hyder power plant and turned intense shortly after midnight, reports said.

While 10 of the workers had succeeded in escaping, nine others including senior engineers were trapped inside. Efforts to douse off the flames were underway by the time this report was published. One team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also involved in the rescue operation.

Six Deaths Confirmed

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed sorrow over the fatal accident. A statement issued by the Telangana CMO said Rao was deeply pained by the incident and has directed officials to oversee the rescue operation.

"CM K Chandrasekhar Rao has expressed shock over the incident. He is eliciting information on the incident. He spoke to Minister Jagadeeshwar Reddy and Transco, Genco CMD D Prabhakar Rao who are at site and reviewed relief measures taking place there", the statement read.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2020 03:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).