Two persons injured in an accidental steam leak at Tata Steel's Meramandali plant in Odisha's Dhenkanal district remain in intensive care while 16 others remain hospitalised, a company statement said.

The steam leak occurred at around 1 PM on Tuesday during inspection work at the plant and affected workers and engineers.

"Of the 18 burn cases admitted to a private hospital in Cuttack, two remain in intensive care... The other injured persons are in stable condition, receiving continuous, high-quality care.

"Another person initially admitted for a panic attack at the incident site, is now in good health and expected to be discharged shortly," Tata Steel said in a statement.

Dhenkanal SP Gyanaranjan Mohapatra on Tuesday said that around 19 persons were injured in the incident.

The injured persons were immediately shifted to the Occupational Health Centre inside the plant premises and then to Cuttack for further treatment.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Factory and Broilers has started investigation into the cause of the steam leak at the blast furnace section where engineers and workers were undertaking an inspection. The steam line busted and hot water fell on the workers during the inspection, an official of the directorate said.

The company has also started its internal probe to ascertain the cause of the accident.

The Dhenkanal District Collector and Superintendent of Police visited the accident site.

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