A fire broke out at SAIL's Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) in Jharkhand on Saturday morning, following which 23 workers were hospitalised for exposure to smoke, officials said.

The incident happened when scheduled maintenance work was underway in the mixed gas pipeline through which gas is supplied to the re-heating furnace of the hot strip mill, a statement issued by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) said.

The pipeline was under shut and hence, there was no gas in it, it said.

"As part of the maintenance work, a compensator in the pipeline was also to be changed and during this work in the morning on 06/04/24, residual naphtha, sulphur, tar etc inside the pipeline, which are all highly inflammable, caught fire resulting in a lot of smoke which spread through the pipeline," it said.

The fire was extinguished, it added.

Twenty-three people, including some contractual workers, who were working in the re-heating furnace area of the hot strip mill, came in contact with the smoke, the statement said.

As a precautionary measure, they were kept under observation at the Bokaro General Hospital, officials said, adding that there was no report of any fatality.

"Investigation was also done using a gas analyser and it was found that there was no incident of any kind of gas leakage," the statement said.

BSP's Executive Director (Works) BK Tiwari and other senior officials went to the spot and took stock of the situation. Executive Director (Personnel and Administration) Rajan Prasad visited the hospital and inquired about the health of the workers who were all found to be in stable conditions.

Meanwhile, senior officials of the Bokaro district administration also visited the plant and the hospital.

"SAIL-Bokaro Steel Plant is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of its workers. Workers are regularly apprised of safety protocols and all efforts are being made to ensure compliance with safety rules," the statement said.

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