Solapur (Maharashtra), Oct 7 (IANS) Three contract labourers from Punjab were crushed to death on Friday morning when a 100-tonne girder, being fitted in the upcoming power station of the NTPC here, fell on them, an official spokesperson said.
According to the National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPC) preliminary assessment, the girder crash may have occurred after it broke from the supporting cables of the crane when it was in the process of being installed in the boiler room of the the 1,320 MW plant in Ahirwadi area.
The incident occurred around 11.15 am after which the entire plant was ordered to be evacuated.
The NTPC has expressed regrets and ordered a probe into the incident which claimed three lives and left some other workers injured, the spokesperson said.
Earlier, the Solapur Police Control had said a blast had occurred in a chimney of the plant, killing four workers, around 20 kms on the outskirts of the city.
The deafening sound from the falling girder, which was around 80-100 feet long, was initially mistaken for a blast, locals said.
Investigating officer Indrajeet Sonkamble of Valsang Police Station said the deceased have been identified as Gurupreet Pratapsingh Sandhu, 24, Gurusevak Mahendra Singh, 19, and Rajvir Swaran Singh, 24, all hailing from villages in Punjab's Tarn Taran district.
The NTPC said that the labourers belonged to Power Mech Projects Ltd, which is entrusted with the task of constructing the power plant along with two other companies.
Maharashtra's first ultra-thermal power generation plant deploying super-critical technology, making it eco-friendly, the plant is being built at a cost of around Rs 10,000 crore by NTPC, a Maharatna company.
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