With the death of Appala Raju who was under medical treatment in Old Care Hospital the number reached to 25 in the fire accident occurred in HPCL Refinery on August 23 in one of the cooling towers. 7 persons died on the spot when the fire broke suddenly in the night.
Although so many days are passed and the death toll is rising day by day, still the authorities are yet to ascertain the cause for the accident. As law directs, the factories department has to complete the enquiry and report within 90 days of the accident. And after that if cause of the accident is due to violation of the security norms, the prosecution will be initiated against the occupier of the factory.
The Director of the Factories says that it was a major incident that took place so far in cooling towers. He says that there must be some violation to cause the accident and once it is established the prosecution will be take place with the permission of the Government.
At the time of accident 8 employees of HPCL and some contract workers were present at the spot. The wounded were rushed to different corporate hospitals in Vizag and 8 in critical condition were shifted to Mumbai by plane.
-SriJa
