A ladle carrying around 150 tonnes of liquid steel tipped and split open inside the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant on June 8, 2026. Around 18 workers were nearby.
Eight died where they stood. Six more were dragged out badly burned, several with burns covering 70% or more of the body, and a few as much as 90%, Moneylife reported. District collector M Abhishikth Kishore said five of the dead were regular staff and three were contract hires, among them an officer at manager level. Trade unions said nothing at the plant had been this bad for over ten years.
The accident happened in steel melt shop 1, run by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), in the continuous casting section. According to the central industrial security force, the blast started at the Machine No. 2 ladle and set an overhead crane on fire. A fireball shot toward the roof, and liquid steel ran over the floor. Smoke and heat made the core of the blast zone hard to reach, and crews were at it for nearly 90 minutes.
The toll kept climbing
Eight was not the final number. Kandula Paidiraju, one of the injured, died on June 10. Then G Suribabu, a contract hire from the village of Seethanagaram, succumbed at a private hospital the following Saturday. That made 10, The New Indian Express reported. Two other injured men have gone home and two remain in care, described as stable.
Money, suspensions, an inquiry
Steel minister HD Kumaraswamy promised ₹25 lakh to the family of every dead worker, permanent or outsourced, and a permanent job for one relative. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh said he was shaken and ordered departments to coordinate relief. Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, a junior steel minister at the Centre, said the cause would only emerge after a proper investigation.
That investigation sits with an outside panel of three, led by the head of Bokaro Steel Plant. RINL has also suspended 22 employees pending the outcome, drawn from the melt shop, materials management and quality assurance. Unions meanwhile point to understaffing, poor upkeep and weak safety practice.
Sources
- Vizag Steel Plant Blast: 8 Workers Killed, 6 Injured in Molten Steel Ladle Explosion (IBTimes India)
- 8 Workers Killed in Molten Steel Ladle Blast at Vizag Steel Plant (Moneylife)
- Vizag Steel Plant explosion death toll rises to 10 (The New Indian Express)
