Vizag Steel Plant blast: Paternity break ends in tragedy for young technicians

Visakhapatnam: It was just two hours into his duty after a week’s break to spend time with his family when 32-year-old G Bhanu Kumar lost his life in one of the major industrial accidents at RINL, the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), on Monday evening.A resident of Aganampudi locality, Kumar joined the VSP as a technician in 2018. Kumar was cherishing his time on paternity leave to care for his three-month-old son. Although he was scheduled to remain on leave until Sunday (June 7), he returned to duty on Monday (June 8) and died in the mishap.In a heart-wrenching twist of fate, Kumar was originally slated for a later shift (C-Shift) but swapped with a colleague to work the B shift — the very shift during which the explosion took his life, said some of his colleagues. Having been married for just two years, Kumar was deeply devoted to his young family, leaving behind a legacy of love and aspirations that were abruptly silenced. The recent, devastating blast at a steel plant in Visakhapatnam has left a trail of personal tragedies, revealing the immense human cost behind the industrial catastrophe.A miraculous escape: Arjuna ApparaoAmidst the loss, some moments can only be described as near-miracles. G Arjuna Apparao, working the B shift at a height of 20 feet in the Steel Melting Shop-1 (SMS-1) unit on Monday evening, narrowly escaped death when he decided to descend to use the washroom moments before the blast. A few seconds after he moved away, the area he was just occupying was rocked by an explosion. Though molten metal splashed onto his back, causing 30% burn injuries, Apparao is currently recovering under medical care. Reflecting on his narrow escape, Apparao told his relatives that he believes it was a divine intervention that saved his life.A plea for family: Pydiraju’s viral messageThe tragedy has also highlighted the fear and bravery of those struggling with injuries. Pydiraju, one of the workers injured in the blast, reached out to his family through a poignant video message recorded while he was shifting to treatment. Terrified that he might not survive, he used the video to leave instructions for his elder son Varma to look after his mother and ensure his younger brother continued his education. The video later went viral, drawing an outpouring of sympathy and highlighting the deep anxiety felt by the families of those caught in the accident.No call came that night: Blast victim’s wifeG Rachamma said she used to receive a phone call from her husband every night, during which he asked her to switch on the air conditioner at home because he was on his way back, but on the night of the accident she did not receive any call from him.“I used to get a phone call from my husband every night, and he would ask me to switch on the air conditioner at home because he was on his way back. But that night I did not receive any call from him; instead, I got a call from someone saying my husband is no longer,” she said in a choked voice, with tears in her eyes.Rachamma’s husband, GV Appa Rao, was among the eight people who died in the accident.Rachamma said their sons Lokesh and Dhanush, who had fallen ill with fever, were waiting for their father on Monday evening, but the incident ended their hopes, she added. She said her husband used to tell her it was very difficult to work in the steel melt shop and that he also felt discomfort during the summer.The major explosion that occurred at Steel Melt Shop-1 of the plant during casting operations involving molten steel on Monday evening killed my husband and others, she added.Survived by a narrow margin: WorkerA worker said it was about 3.45 pm on Monday when he and his friend and colleague Krishna Nag, a senior foreman, went to the canteen for tea and returned to their duties at the Steel Melt Shop at around 4.25 pm.He said, “Within minutes of getting back to work, a massive explosion occurred in front of me, and my friend Krishna Nag, along with seven others, was burned to death, but I could not save any of them because there was no way to move forward, as my shoes started melting after the blast.”During the incident, I was roughly 20 to 25 mts away from the location, and I survived by a narrow margin, said 58-year-old N Ram Mohan Rao (senior foreman). I was able to record the terrifying scenes after the mishap, and I lost my friend and co-workers in the tragic incident, he added.