A worker was killed and six others injured after a mechanical fault in the melting shop of a steel mill caused molten metal to fall on them and also triggered a fire, in Gujarat’s Kutch district on Sunday. This is the second similar incident in the state in around three weeks. The police said the injured workers are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Kutch and Ahmedabad.

The deceased has been identified as Surendrapal Daduram Lodh, 21, while the injured are Vijay Kumar, Raviram, Pushpendra Kumar, Dipak Kumar, Amit Kumar and Raj Kumar. They hail from Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. A case of accidental death has been registered at Dudhai police station and an inquiry initiated, officers said.

The incident occurred when the steel melting shop of Kemo Steel Industries Private Limited (KSIPL) in Budhamora village, Anjar taluka developed a mechanical fault and hot molten steel started overflowing from a bucket in the shop at 3.45 am on Sunday, officers of the Dudhai police station said. “Molten steel started spilling out of the furnace, leading to a fire. Seven workers who were near the furnace suffered burn injuries,” an officer of Dudhai police station told The Indian Express.

“The workers with burn wounds were initially rushed to Divine Life Hospital in Adipur near Gandhidham. Later, four seriously injured workers, including Lodh were shifted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Hospital in Ahmedabad and the others were taken to a private hospital in Kutch. Lodh succumbed to his injuries at 6.50 pm on Sunday at SVP Hospital,” an officer said.

“The hot metal splashed on the workers and led to burn injuries. The accident also led to a fire in the factory,” said Police Sub-Inspector M M Zala, in-charge of Dudhai police station. He said those under treatment in Kutch are out of danger while the condition of the workers shifted to Ahmedabad is critical.

The KSIPL plant in Budhamora manufactures Thermo-Mechanically Treated (TMT) bars. The plant has an integrated manufacturing process, beginning with melting iron ore into steel in the steel melting shop, casting the molten steel into billets and then processing the billets into TMT bars. The firm could not be reached for comment.

On December 28, two workers were killed and three others injured when hot metal splashed on them from a bucket in the melting shop of Rudra Global Infra Products Limited (RGIPL) in Bhavnagar district’s Sihor.