Post-Bhilai plant blast, CEO removed

A day after 12 employees of the Bhilai steel plant died in an explosion, the Union government removed the state-owned steel unit's CEO, M Ravi, and suspended two senior officers, according to Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh who inspected the accident site on Wednesday.

Singh also visited the injured in Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Bhilai, around 35km from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.

The Minister said an inquiry committee will investigate the incident and submit its report within a week.

Seven plant employees and four fire brigade men had died in the blast on Tuesday in an explosion which took place in the gas pipeline connected to the coke oven section of the plant during maintenance job. 

Sources said over a dozen persons injured in the blast have been admitted to the intensive care unit of Bhilai's Sector 9 hospital. 

The bodies of seven victims have been identified while DNA tests are being conducted to ascertain the identify of the remaining victims.

The suspended officers include general manager (safety department) T. Pandya Raja and deputy general manager (energy department) Naveen Kumar.-IANS