Nine killed in Indian power plant fire – The Canberra Times

Nine people have been killed in a fire at a hydro-electric power plant in southern India, officials say. The fire broke out on Thursday night, trapping several employees in the power plant run by the Telangana state government’s power corporation, near to the Srisailam dam. “Most managed to escape or were rescued. Nine people were trapped and their bodies were recovered today,” local administration chief L Sharman said. Seven of those who died were employees of the Telangana State Power Generation Corporation, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. At least eight others were injured, three of them seriously, the paper said, citing power corporation officials. Telangana Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao described the accident as tragic and said that despite all efforts those trapped by the fire could not be saved. Rao has ordered a probe into the cause of the accident. The fire could have been sparked by a short circuit in one of the electric panels of the power plant which is located in a tunnel, Hindustan Times quoted Telangana Power Minister Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy as saying. Australian Associated Press