Hyderabad, Aug 31 (IANS) The toll in last week’s blast at the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) refinery in Visakhapatnam rose to 19 with one more injured succumbing to burns Saturday.
Varun Kumar (20) died at New Care Hospital, police said.
Sixteen injured are still undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the coastal city while eight were airlifted to Mumbai for treatment.
Eight people were killed and 34 injured in the fire caused by the huge blast in the cooling tower which was under construction in the refinery’s diesel hydro sulphurisation expansion project Aug 23.
Eleven injured succumbed to burns at different private hospitals.
The HPCL authorities have so far handed over cheques of Rs.2.2 crore to district collector for distributing Rs.20 lakh each to the dependents of the contract workers killed in the accident.
The compensation for the remaining families will be disbursed soon. HPCL has announced Rs.1 crore compensation for its executive killed in the site.
The work is on at brisk pace to clear debris from the accident site. HPCL officials hope to complete the work in a week.
