Two persons sustained serious burn injuries in an electric blaze while working inside an electrical sub-station of Kochi Refineries Limited (KRL) at Ambalamugal here on Tuesday.
The injured persons have been admitted to hospitals with serious burn injuries. They are Velayudhan KD, 53, of Chethikkodu and Arun, 26, of Puthencruz. They are employees of a private electrical company working on contract. The condition of Velayudhan, who sustained 86 per cent burns, is critical while Arun has been put under observation till Wednesday morning.
Eyewitnesses said the duo were injured around 9.45 a.m. while working inside the control cabin of a sub-station attached to the refinery’s captive power plant. They were working on high-power cables, a short circuit on which led to the shock wave. Following this, thick plumes of smoke began billowing out of the cabin even as the two were rushed to hospitals.
“Hearing a sound, we rushed into the room but were unable to spot them at first as the room was filled with smoke. As they were severely burnt, we covered them with a cloth before rushing them to the hospital,” said Shaju, a co-worker who took the injured to the hospital. According to him, Arun had a deep cut in his abdomen which seemed to have caused after hitting something.
KRL officials said an investigation was on to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. Ambalamedu police have lodged a case for fire occurrence.
