6 dead from Srisailam power plant fire tragedy; 3 still trapped

Rescuers on Friday retrieved six bodies from a hydroelectric plant in Telangana’s Srisailam where nine people were feared trapped after a fire late on Thursday, officials said.

So far, the bodies of three assistant engineers — Sundar Naik, Mohan Kumar and Fathima — have been recovered. Officials said rescuers are still looking for the three other employees trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Power Station (SLBP) run by Telangana State Power Generation Corporation (TSGenco).

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao ordered a comprehensive enquiry by Crime Investigation Department (CID) into the cause of the accident. Govind Singh, CID’s additional director of police, has been appointed as the inquiry officer. Singh has been asked to submit a report at the earliest.

The chief minister expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the Srisailam power station fire. Describing it as unfortunate, KCR said all the efforts were made to rescue the trapped engineers and bring them out alive, but in vain. He expressed his deep condolences to the bereaved families.

Telangana power minister G Jagadeeshwar Reddy, who rushed to the spot along with top TSGenco officials, told reporters that the fire erupted possibly due to short circuit in the electric panels of the power house and it spread to other parts of the power house.

There were 30 employees of TSGenco inside the powerhouse when the accident took place late on Thursday night. While six employees were rescued and brought out of the tunnel, 15 others managed to come out through the emergency exit route of the project.

However, nine others were trapped inside as thick smoke engulfed inside the tunnel, making it difficult for the rescue teams to reach the place, Reddy said.

The rescued employees, including deputy executive engineer Pawan Kumar, plant junior assistant Ramakrishna, junior engineers Mathru, Krishna Reddy and Venkataiah and driver Palankaiah were shifted to TSGenco Hospital at Eegala Penta closer to the power house. They are out of danger.

SLBP is on the Telangana side of the Srisailam reservoir on the Krishna River, a joint irrigation project under Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The power house was constructed in the huge tunnel under the Nallamala forests adjacent to the reservoir, which is presently brimming with heavy inflows into the river forcing the authorities to lift all the gates to discharge water.