One dead, 21 injured in explosion at thermal power plant in Rajasthan

One person was killed and 21 others, including an engineer, were injured today in an explosion at a thermal power plant at Chabra in Rajasthan's Baran district about 85km from Kota.

The explosion occurred at Rajasthan Bijli Utpadan Nigam limited (RBUNL) when a pipeline carrying coal powder to the boiler burst during synchronisation of the plant's second unit of 250 MW capacity at 11.30am, plant authorities said.

Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) engineers were busy re-synchronizing the second unit at the plant when the pipe burst, chief executive engineer of the plant JP Chaturvedi said.

One person died and 21 others, including an executive engineer Ghanshyam Rathore, were injured in the incident, he said.

The deceased has been identified as Mahiveer Singh, 25, a labourer from Attaru subdivision of Baran district.

Four of the injured were admitted to government hospital, Chabra while the others were sent to a hospital in Gunna (MP).

The reason behind the explosion is not yet clear, said Chaturvedi adding a committee would look into the matter.