27 hurt in IFFCO plant roof collapse in Orissa

Bubhaneswar (Orissa), Feb.20 (ANI): At least 27 workers were injured, 11 of them seriously, when the roof of a silo caved in at an Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited (IFFCO) plant in Paradip on Monday.

Reports from Paradip said that the fire brigade, ambulance and emergency service personnel from IFFCO, Paradip Port Trust and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) were pressed into service for rescue and debris clearance operations.

Reports further quoted an IFFCO official, as saying that there was a remote chance of anyone being trapped inside the silo, as the collapse occured in the evening. He also said that several workers had gone to nearby temples to pray on the occasion of Mahashivratri, while others had gone to their villages to cast their votes in the last phase of panchayat elections in the state.

Those critically injured in the mishap have been moved to private hospitals in Cuttack, while the rest were admitted to nearby hospitals for treatment.

An IFFCO statement in New Delhi, however, claimed that only 11 people were injured in the incident and hospitalised.

The silo has a capacity of storing 45,000 tonnes of fertilisers.

Jagatsinghpur District Collector N C Jena and Superintendent of Police S Debadutta Singh are at the site to take stock of the situation, including providing medical assistance to the injured, the reports said. (ANI)