At least three people, including a deputy general manager (DGM), fainted after inhaling nitrogen gas that leaked from a transformer at the hot strip mill of the Bokaro Steel Plant here on Monday evening.

The Telegraph had in its May 9 edition highlighted how Jharkhand with its industrial units is highly prone to disasters like the one that happened in Visakhapatnam.

Bokaro Steel Plant chief communication officer (CCO) Manikant Dhan said that the incident occurred when one of their senior officials from the distribution network department and two workers were inspecting a new transformer adjacent to the hot strip mill department, the wing where steel sheets are made.

New transformers have nitrogen gas filled inside them which is taken out prior to installation and replaced with oil. Nitrogen, when inhaled, can cause death because it replaces the oxygen in the lungs.

“Since the inquiry committee report is pending, we are unable to ascertain the cause leading to the exposure to this gas,” Dhan said. “DGM V. Narayan and the two other employees were admitted to Bokaro General Hospital (some 150km from Ranchi), where they are stable. They will be released soon after the observation period is over in the hospital.”

The cause of the gas leak was not known yet but an official told The Telegraph that it happened at 7.30pm on Monday when most of the employees were not at the unit.

Asked how the leak happened, Dhan said: “A probe is underway and we are waiting for the inquiry committee report to know how this happened”.

A source in the plant said that while installing an electric transformer that arrived from Jhansi, the nitrogen gas filled by the company in it was not emptied. “This gas should have been fired with safety provisions,” said the source.

Dhan said that negligence during the installation of the transformer in the hot strip mill could be a reason behind the gas leak.