All nine people who were reported to be trapped in a massive fire that broke out at a hydroelectric plant in India's Telangana are dead, officials revealed on Friday.
Nine bodies have been recovered from the site located at the Srisailam Dam, and three of them have been identified as site engineers.
Out of a total of 19 people who were working at the plant owned by Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited, 10 were able to escape when the fire broke out on Thursday night.
The country's National Disaster Response Force and a local fire department were deployed for the rescue and evacuation mission. The rescued people were hospitalised and are said to be out of danger.
Although Telangana's Power Minister G. Jagadeeshwar Reddy informed that the cause of fire was a short-circuit, Telangana chief Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered a detailed enquiry by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) to ascertain the cause of the incident. Terming the event as unfortunate, the state chief also expressed anguish over the lives lost.
శ్రీశైలం పవర్ ప్లాంటులో జరిగిన ప్రమాదంపై సిఐడి విచారణకు ముఖ్యమంత్రి శ్రీ కె. చంద్రశేఖర్ రావు ఆదేశాలు జారీ చేశారు. ఈ ప్రమాదానికి గల కారణాలు వెలికి తీయాలని, ప్రమాదానికి దారి తీసిన పరిస్థితులు బయటకు రావాలని సీఎం స్పష్టం చేశారు.
— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) August 21, 2020
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to condole the bereaved families and prayed that the injured will recover soon.
Fire at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 21, 2020
