Gopalganj sugar mill blast kills 6

PATNA: At least six workers died and several others were injured after a tank containing hot sugarcane juice exploded in the Sasamusa Sugar Mill in Gopalganj district, 150km from Patna, on Wednesday-Thursday midnight.
Reports said four workers died on spot, while two of the eight rushed to the district sadar hospital for treatment succumbed to their injuries.
According to Gopalganj civil surgeon A K Chaudhary, the deceased were identified as Kanahiya Sharma, Vikrama Yadav, Shamshuddin Ali, Arjun Kumar Kushwaha and Kripa Yadav.“One of the deceased was yet to be identified,” he said.
The injured workers include Mohd Hasmuddin (60), Ravindra Prasad (52), Mohd Harun (55), Banka Yadav (45), Paras Giri (45) and Chandeo Prasad (40). “Hasmuddin with 90% burn injuries and Paras with 50% burn injuries are in a critical condition,” the civil surgeon said.
Gopalganj’s officiating DM Dayanand Mishra said the State Diaster Response Force jawans had launched search and rescue operations inside the mill.
However, a National Disaster Response Force team, drafted from Patna, failed to reach Gopalganj in time as it was caught in a snarl caused by bandh supporters near Hajipur, the DM said and added mill owner Mahmood Ali had been arrested.
Police had a tough time managing the crowd of villagers who gathered outside the mill on Thursday morning. The mob clashed with police and pelted the ambulances arriving to carry the injured with stones. The protesters also ransacked the mill’s guesthouse and set afire a tractor and a Maruti van parked on the premises.
A government official said the mill, constructed in 1932, was in a highly dilapidated condition and the government authorities looked the other way. “The mill owner has not paid the arrears of around Rs 12 crore to the sugarcane farmers since 2012-2013,” the official said.
Sources said the season for extracting juice from the sugarcane started a fortnight back and, as such, a good number of workers were around the boiler even at midnight. The Kolkata-based owner of the mill was also in town since December 9 for the same reason.
Of the 11 operational sugar mills in Bihar, three, including Sasamusa, are located in Gopalganj district.
Govt to pay Rs 4L ex gratia
Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday expressed grief over the death of six workers in an explosion in a sugar mill in Gopalganj and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the bereaved families. He also ordered an inquiry following which principal secretaries of sugarcane industries and labour resource departments flew to Gopalganj in the morning to probe the incident.