1 killed, 12 injured in Mandi Gobindgarh furnace blast

Police are probing the lapses that led to the accident; a forensics team has also visited the spot and the statement of the injured has been recorded.

Mandi Gobindgarh A 37-year-old labourer, Arun Majhi, was killed and 12 others injured in an iron furnace blast on the premises of a private firm, Punjab Steel Forging and Agro Industries, during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, police said, adding it had arrested five people, including the factory owner.

Four of the injured had burns of up to 80% and have been referred to Ludhiana for advance treatment. (HT FILE PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATION ONLY)

The 12 injured are Vicky Kumar; Lal Tiwari; Rakesh; Vinod; Shailesh; Bittu; Amarjit; Aman Kumar; Dharminder Patel; Ashok and Brij Kumar, all aged between 19 and 34. They belong to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Mandi Gobindgarh.

“Four of the victims had burns of up to 80% and have been referred to Ludhiana for advance treatment,” doctors at Khanna civil hospital said.

Industrial unit owner, Sandeep Goyal, said, “Melted metal fell over workers. It was an accident.”

Fatehgarh Sahib, superintendent of police, Jagjit Singh Jalla said, “We are probing the lapses that led to the accident. A forensics team has also visited the spot. The statement of the injured has been recorded.” 

Mandi Gobindgarh SHO Prem Singh said the owner Kumar and his partners, Sanjeev Kumar, Sahil Bansal, Vijayant Bansal, all of Mandi Gobindgarh, have been booked under Sections 304A (causing death by negligence); 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 336 (rashly or negligently endangering human life) on Friday.