Hyderabad: Eight workers died and six were critically injured in an explosion on Monday (June 8) at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, a Navaratna Central Public Sector Enterprise whose corporate entity, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), functions under the Union Ministry of Steel. The incident occurred at the Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, steel melting unit of the company. A preliminary investigation by the chief inspector of factories at Visakhapatnam has found that the blast was caused by entrapped gases in the liquid steel held within a ladle, while it was being rotated and positioned for casting. A ladle is an industrial vessel used to hold molten metal at extremely high temperatures, in this case over 1,500 degrees Celsius.The preliminary report said that the explosion was sudden and that it took place when the ladle was full. “A sudden explosion took place, causing the ladle to tip and molten steel to fall on workers working on the floor below. The explosion took place around 4.15 pm before opening the slide gate,” the report said. It recorded the temperature of the molten steel in the ladle at around 1,500 to 1,600 degrees Celsius.It added that “the overhead crane also caught fire” during the explosion. A “ball of fire” rose from the explosion and extended up to the ceiling, a worker told the inspector of factories, said the report. Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Steel issued a separate statement, also saying that a sudden explosion triggered the accident.“At about 16:15 hours, on 8th June 2026, caster- 2 of Steel Melt Shop-1 at VSP was under casting. Before slide gate opening to pour hot crude steel from ladle to tundish, which could eventually have gone to caster, sudden severe explosion took place. A severe ball of fire rose up to the ceiling. Overhead crane-2 caught fire,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that RINL was investigating the accident.A three-member external enquiry committee headed by director in-charge of Bokaro Steel Plant has been assigned to inquire into the accident.Police identified the deceased as slide operator G.V. Appa Rao, Prabhakar, Bheem Kumar alias Gold Kumar, a manager at Steel City, Krishna Nag, Trinadh, Appala Raju and Ramana. Five of them were employees of the plant, while three were contract labourers, officials said.Eye-witnesses explain the arduous job of the steel workersAccording to eye-witness accounts, about 150 tonnes of liquid steel was blown up under the impact of Monday’s explosion. As a result, boiling steel fell on workers like lava, reducing eight of them to ashes and causing third-degree burn injuries to six others. They explained that during casting of steel, liquid steel is transferred from a blast furnace to a ‘converter’ and that this is done by the industrial ladle. Other elements that are required in casting steel are mixed at this point, and the molten material is then transferred to a casting machine by the ladle. Also read: The Recent Workers’ Protests Point to Grave Incapabilities in the Tripartite Labour AdministrationLiquid steel is converted into blooms or large, semi-finished cast steel products that form the raw material for rolling mills that manufacture heavy industrial components. Blooms are made by continuously ‘casting’ liquid steel, a task performed by a specialised department at steel plants. There were six casting machines at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant where the explosion occurred, the witnesses said. The department employs fourteen workers, they said.At around 4.15 pm, one of the ladles, number 19, was permitted to leave the converter to pour liquid steel into one of the six casting machines (number 2). That ladle suddenly exploded, sending molten hot metal shooting upwards. A huge fire broke out inside the unit and liquid steel was strewn to 70 to 80 feet around the explosion. The eye-wtinesses explained how the converter (or oxygen converter) works – oxygen has to be blown into molten steel for 16-18 minutes at a time, which raises its temperature and helps remove impurities such as carbon, silicon, manganese and phosphorus, a process known as refining. The molten steel is then de-gassed using aluminium and ferroalloys, a process known as ‘killing’ the steel, or taking away its ability to boil. This is done at extremely high temperatures until the steel reaches its target chemistry and is ready for casting.Eight workers who watched over this process were burnt alive on the spot by the steel that was blown up and around the unit. Four fire tenders deployed by the Central Industrial Security Force battled the flames for four hours. An earlier accident at Visakhapatnam plantIn June 2012, an accident at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant-RINL steel plant had led to 19 workers’ deaths, while an oxygen converter (Number 1) was being commissioned. Twelve of the workers who perished in that accident were employees of the plant, while four were consultants and three contract workers. It was one of the worst industrial accidents ever, and this was acknowledged by the then Union minister of steel, Beni Prasad Verma, in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a question raised by Telugu Desam Party leader and MP T. Devender Gowd.Verma listed some of the steps taken by the Union government after the accident, which included taking into account the recommendations of a High Level Committee to investigate the incident and to make recommendations to prevent recurrence. The minister said a “new specification” was planned to revive the unit and a training programme was conducted on fire prevention in “oxygen-enriched systems” by IIT, Kharagpur. He said an executive director was appointed at the plant with sole purview over safety.Response after 2026 June accidentFollowing the tragedy, the families of the victims and trade unions resisted shifting the bodies for post-mortem examination until the management announced compensation for them. They obstructed ambulances carrying away the deceased. The injured were shifted to hospitals by air ambulance.The management announced jobs for one member of each of the deceased workers’ families and Rs 25 lakh compensation, in addition to retirement benefits. The families have been told they can stay in the quarters allotted to them at Steel City until the retirement date of the deceased workers.Superintendent of King George Hospital at Visakhapatnam Dr I. Vani said on Tuesday that the remains of the eight workers had been received at the mortuary in unidentifiable condition. Their DNA samples have been collected for identification. So far, Appa Rao, Ramana and Appala Raju have been identified as among those who died in the explosion. Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy rushed to the site around midnight and spoke to the workers on the site.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also reviewed the situation with Chief Secretary G. Sai Prasad and other officials. Ministers Nara Lokesh, V. Anita and G. Sandhya Rani and Union Minister of State for Steel Bhoopatiraju Srinivas Varma visited the King George Hospital on Tuesday morning. Lokesh told mediapersons that action will be taken against officials found negligent in their duties after the committee constituted to probe the incident had delivered its report.