Chhattisgarh blast toll rises to 20; probe to examine safety lapses, fix accountability

Raipur: The death toll in the boiler blast at the Vedanta Ltd thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh's Sakti district rose to 20 on Wednesday, with authorities launching a time-bound magisterial probe to determine the cause of the accident and fix accountability. A total of 36 workers were affected, and 16 are undergoing treatment.Five critically injured workers were shifted to Raipur for advanced care, while others are admitted in hospitals across Raigarh district. The victims include workers from Chhattisgarh as well as Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and UP.The Dabhra sub-divisional magistrate, who will carry out the probe, has been directed to submit the report within 30 days. The inquiry will examine eight key aspects, including the sequence of events, technical or human causes, maintenance of machinery, adherence to safety protocols and inspection practices. It will also seek to identify those responsible and recommend measures to prevent recurrence. The govt had earlier ordered Bilaspur divisional commissioner to probe the accident.With multiple investigations underway, the focus has now shifted from rescue operations to accountability — particularly whether lapses in maintenance and safety compliance contributed to the blast.The explosion occurred Tuesday afternoon at the plant in Singhitarai village when a high-pressure steam pipeline connecting the boiler to the turbine burst, leaving dozens of workers with severe burn injuries. Survivors in hospital recounted the moment everything changed. Ajit Das Kar from Bengal said he was painting inside boiler-1 when a deafening explosion shook the structure. "It felt like a missile had hit. There was smoke everywhere," he said, adding that 40-50 workers were present in the boiler area at the time.Compensation packages were finalised after late-night discussions with the company. Vedanta announced Rs 35 lakh as compensation and employment support for the families of each of the deceased, and Rs 15 lakh each for the injured, along with counselling support. The administration announced that the injured workers will also continue to receive wages until full recovery.For the families of workers, it was an anxious and harrowing search through the night in the hospital corridors in Sakti and Raigarh districts, clinging to hope. For hours after the explosion on Tuesday afternoon, there was little clarity on the identities of the deceased and the injured. Relatives moved from one hospital to another, walking through the wards, peering into ICUs, and searching for lists that didn't exist yet."We started searching around 4 pm and didn't stop till 3.30 am. We checked five to six hospitals, even went inside ICUs," said Sunny Kumar Anant from Janjgir-Champa district, whose brother Rameshwar Mahilange, a boiler operator, was among the dead.Officials said with most of the bodies badly burnt, identifying the deceased took time. The official list of the deceased was released nearly 22 hours after the blast — by then, for many, hope had already turned into grief.Get real-time updates and result insights on the CBSE 12 Result 2026.