Assam: Three NEEPCO employees killed after power plant turbine explosion

Diphu: Three employees of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) were killed following a turbine explosion at its Khandang hydropower project in Assam’s Dima Hasao district on Saturday, officials said.

The turbine exploded at the project site in Khandang in Umrangshu town, following which the entire area was flooded. Several trees were uprooted with a large one falling on three employees present at the site.

The employees, identified as site engineer Anupam Saikia, manager Jayanta Hazarika and another staffer Dimraj Johri, were critically injured and died on their way to the hospital, they said.

Extensive damages were reported but the magnitude was yet to be ascertained, a NEEPCO official said.

The exact cause of the explosion was yet to be ascertained although a section of officials suspect that heavy rainfall in neighboring Meghalaya could have led to the entry of large amounts of water into the turbine, leading to the explosion. Experts have rushed to the site and further investigation was underway.