Guwahati: As many as seven workers reportedly died on Thursday in the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh from asphyxia while they were working to remove oil sludge from an edible oil ship.
Officials immediately rushed to the spot and took up the investigation. The tragedy shocked everyone in the village.
According to the officials, the workers had entered a 24-foot-deep oil tanker one at a time to clean it when the incident occurred in the early hours of today in the Ambati Oil Factory of G. Ragampeta village inside the boundaries of Peddapuram police. Each worker died to death.
According to officials, five of the deceased were residents of Paderu in the Alluri Sitaramaraju district and two others were residents of Pulimeru village of the same mandal.
The officials informed us that further investigation is underway.
Former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nara Chandrababu Naidu, denounced the tragedy and demanded that the government quickly compensate the relatives of the victims.
“The news of the death of seven workers in an accident at the Ambati Oil Factory in Kakinada district is shocking. The government should immediately pay compensation to the families of the deceased,” Naidu tweeted.
BJP state president Somu Veerraju also denounced the tragedy and claimed that the government had failed to implement safety measures in the workplace. He insisted that the government prioritise industrial safety and take swift action to stop industrial accidents.
The government announced a Rs. 25 lakh ex gratia payment to the victim’s families and negotiations with the management are ongoing on additional compensation.