9 killed in Srisailam hydel power plant fire mishap in Telangana

18:29 August 21

Pained by loss of lives in tragic fire accident at Srisailam hydroelectric plant: Prez

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said he was pained by the loss of lives in the tragic fire accident at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant in Telangana. Nine people have died in the fire mishap at the plant.
"Pained by the loss of lives in the tragic fire accident at Srisailam hydroelectric plant in Telangana. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I wish speedy recovery for the injured," Kovind tweeted.

17:12 August 21

PM Modi mourns the deaths in Srisailam fire incident

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was deeply anguished by the deaths in the fire incident. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Fire at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest."

16:44 August 21

Death toll rises to nine in Srisailam fire incident; 7 bodies recovered

Nine people died in a fire mishap in the Srisailam hydroelectric plant on the Telangana-Andhra Pradesh border on Friday, a senior government official said.

Seven bodies have been recovered by rescue teams so far and efforts were on to pull out the others from the underground plant, Nagarkurnool District Collector L Sharman said.

The fire broke out late on Thursday night when at least

17 people were inside the plant and eight of them managed to come out, officials said. 

Taking to Twitter, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu mourned the deaths and said, "Distressed by the loss of lives in a fire incident at the Srisailam Hydroelectric plant in Telangana. My thoughts are with the bereaved families."

16:22 August 21

Death toll rises to five in Srisailam fire incident; bodies recovered

Two more dead bodies have been recovered, taking the toll to five in the Telangana fire incident that broke out in Srisailam hydroelectric station on Thursday late night.

Earlier, dead bodies of three assistant engineers- Mohan Kumar, Ujma Fatima and Sundar Nayak were recovered from the incident site.

Efforts were on to rescue the four people trapped inside the power plant.

15:12 August 21

3 assistant engineers killed in Srisailam fire incident; bodies recovered

As per the latest update, three dead bodies have been recovered while six others are still feared trapped in the fire that broke out in Srisailam hydroelectric station on Thursday late night.

Nagarkurnool Collector said all those whose bodies have been recovered are assistant engineers working at the hydroelectric station.

Those whose bodies have been recovered from the incident site are- Assistant engineers-  Mohan Kumar, Ujma Fatima and Surendar.

Those trapped inside included Deputy Engineer Srinivas Goud and Assistant Engineer Sushma and two technicians of Amara Raja Batteries, Venkat Rao and Ettem Rambabu. 

14:55 August 21

Body of Assistant Engineer recovered: Nagarkurnool Collector

Nagarkurnool Collector said that the body of the Assistant Engineer Ujma Fatima has been recovered while 8 people are still feared trapped in the Srisailam hydroelectric station.

14:26 August 21

One killed while 8 other still trapped in Singareni fire accident

One killed while 8 others are still trapped in the Singareni fire accident which took place in the late Thursday night. 

Six people are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital.

12:06 August 21

Rescue teams from Singareni Collieries leave for Srisailam power plant

Two teams comprising 20 members including three officials of Singareni Collieries Company Limited, a state-owned coal miner, have left for Srisailam Hydel Electric Power project in which nine persons are trapped due to a fire accident, a senior official of SCCL said.

"The teams are experts in rescuing people trapped in irrespirable conditions. We have equipment that can allow our personnel where there are poisonous gases and no Oxygen and also. The teams can go even if there is dense smoke," SCCL General Manager (Rescue) S Venkateswarlu told.

The official further said the teams left from Peddapalli district where the rescue teams are stationed.

Nine persons are feared trapped in Srisailam Left bank hydroelectric station located underground on the Telangana-Andhra Pradesh border after a fire broke out on Thursday night, officials said on Friday.

Though the fire was put off, thick smoke engulfed the tunnel where the power plant is located, hampering the rescue operations.

Six of the people are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital for suffocation.

09:26 August 21

CM K Chandrashekhar Rao has expressed shock over the fire incident at Srisailam dam. 

"He is eliciting information on the incident on a regular basis. He spoke to Minister Jagdeeshwar Reddy and Transco, Genco CMD D Prabhakar Rao who are at site & reviewed relief measures taking place there," Telangana CMO stated. 

06:20 August 21

Death toll rises to nine in Srisailam fire incident; 7 bodies recovered

Nagarkurnool (Telangana):Nine persons who were trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Hydel Power Station (SLBHP) of the Srisailam reservoir here in Telangana have lost their lives in the fire accident while three injured employees are getting treatment at the hospital, said Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited (TSGENCO) on Friday. 

The deceased have been identified as TSGENCO Deputy Engineer Srinivas Goud, Assistant Engineers Venkat Rao, Mohan Kumar, Fatima Ujma, plant attendant Rambabu, junior attendant Kiran and Sundar Kumar, and two technicians from Amararaja company Vinesh Kumar and Mahesh Kumar.

"They tried to come out from the escape tunnel, but could not do so due to the dense smoke," TSGENCO said in an official statement. 

There were 17 people in the plant at the time of the accident. Eight of them could safely come out, but nine were trapped inside the plant, TSGENCO said. TSGENCO said that the fire incident occurred at 10:30 pm on Thursday. 

"The fire accident occurred in the 900 MW capacity hydroelectric power station on the left bank of Srisailam reservoir at 10.30 pm on August 20. The fire broke out in the panels in unit 1 of the power station which led to the accident. The employees tried to put off the fire and save the plant from burning. The employees tried their level best till 12 am last night, but in vain," the statement reads. 

"Telangana Power Minister Jagadeeswar Reddy, TS GENCO CMD Devulapalli Prabhakar Rao, GENCO directors and senior employees rushed to the spot and monitored the rescue operations. NDRF, Singareni coal mines technicians and Telangana state fire services rushed to the plant and tried to rescue the trapped ones," it added. The plant is 1.2 km deep from the earth's surface and there is only one tunnel to go there, TSGENCO said.

"As fire and dense smoke spread, it was not possible to go inside for a very long time. The teams could enter the plant by the afternoon of Friday," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu have expressed grief at the loss of lives in the incident. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao expressed shock over the fire incident. The Chief Minister also reviewed ongoing relief measures and spoke to the Telangana Power Minister to know about the incident.

(With inputs from IANS)