NTPC blast toll climbs to 29, Rahul Gandhi calls for judicial probe

NTPC additional general managers Sanjeev Sharma, Mishri Lal and Prabhat Srivastava, who were undergoing treatment at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) Trauma Centre in Lucknow, were rushed to Delhi AIIMS Thursday through a green corridor — a special route where signals are manually operated to avoid red lights and traffic. Two other victims, admitted at a private hospital near KGMU, were sent to Delhi AIIMS later in the day through green corridors. Doctors at Lucknow Civil Hospital said nine more patients, whose condition is critical, will be sent to Delhi by an air ambulance on Friday.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Thursday visited the blast site and met the victims.

Senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and UP Congress chief Raj Babbar accompanied Rahul. Rae Bareli is represented in the Lok Sabha by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Rahul tweeted later, “Labourers have said that the accident took place due to negligence and that there should be a judicial probe into the accident and strict action should be taken against the guilty.”

Raebareli: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi arrives to meet the family members of the victims of Unchahar NTPC boiler blast at Postmortem House in Raebareli on Thursday. PTI Photo (PTI11_2_2017_000019A)

Union Minister R K Singh, who visited the plant and met the injured Thursday, directed NTPC to set up a committee to probe the blastand complete it in 30 days.

The district administration, too, has ordered a magisterial inquiry.

The NTPC has announced that it is increasing the compensation to be paid to the next of kin of the deceased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. PM Narendra Modi has announced financial help of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of the deceased.

The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the UP government and asked the chief secretary to submit a report on the incident in six weeks.