Six die in gas leakage in Andhra steel plant
Vijayawada, July 12 : Six workers died and two others were taken ill in a gas leakage at a multinational steel company in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district on Thursday evening, police said.
The incident occurred in Gerdau Steel plant on the outskirts of Tadipatri town.
The gas leakage occurred in furnace wing of the plant. Eight of the workers collapsed after inhaling the gas while others managed to escape in time.
Eye witnesses said two workers died on the spot. Six others were shifted to nearby hospital, where four workers succumbed.
The deceased have been identified as B. Ranganath, 21, K. Manoj, 24, S.A. Wasim, 39, U. Gangadhar, 37, Guravaiah, 40, and K Siva Maddileti alias Lingaiah, 26.
Gerdau Steel, one of the largest steel companies worldwide, said it had suspended operations at the unit and will resume only after an extensive safety inspection.
"Gerdau sadly informs that an accident occurred at its Tadipatri steel plant, in India, this evening, resulting in six causalties. Gerdau immediately provided medical assistance and the workers were sent to the local hospital," the company said in a brief statement.
"The company is assisting the family of the victims and is working to determine the cause of the accident. The company is also extending all cooperation to local authorities," it added.
Gerdau is the leading producer of long steel in the Americas and one of the largest suppliers of special long steel in the world. It has more than 45,000 employees and industrial operations in 14 countries, according to the information on its website.
The plant in Andhra was Gerdau's first in Asia and it has capacity to produce 300,000 tons of special steel per year.
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SC should take suo motu cognisance of Tirupati laddu adulteration allegations: VHP
Tirupati (AP)(PTI): The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Monday appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of Tirupati laddu adulteration allegations and launch a probe to identify the culprits.
The Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal of VHP met at Tirupati and took this decision. It was attended by VHP’s international secretary Bajrang Bagra and other pontiffs.
VHP's decision comes in the wake of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently claiming that the previous YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fats for making the popular Tirupati laddus, known for their unique taste.
"Supreme Court should take suo motu cognisance of this matter and investigate it in a definite time period to identify the culprits of this unforgivable crime and punish them stringently," said VHP in a release.
Further, it noted there is no room for negligence and delay in this matter as such a scenario could result in nation-wide agitations by Hindu community members, who are already impatient over this issue.
According to the VHP, allegations and counter allegations of the ruling NDA and opposition YSRCP in the southern state over the past 4-5 days on Tirupati laddus have caused immense consternation in the Hindu community.
It noted that these developments have hurt the sentiments of crores of Sri Balaji (Sri Venkateswara Swamy) devotees across the globe, observing that laddu prasadam (consecrated food) is considered and consumed as a divine blessing with utmost faith.
VHP said the allegations of laddu adulteration have 'horribly' insulted Lord Venkateswara Swamy devotees.
