At least one person died and more than 15 others were critically injured in a blast furnace explosion at a private steel plant in Odisha Wednesday, an official said.
The explosion occurred in a blast furnace at Bhushan Steel Ltd. in Dhenkanal district's Narendrapur area, about 150 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
All the victims are contract labourers, deputy director of factories and boilers H.C.Sahu told IANS.
Firefighters were still trying to douse the fire. The exact number of casualties and injured were not known as yet, he said.
Some more people could be buried under the debris, said an eyewitness.
The state government has ordered a probe into the explosion.