NTPC blast: 15 men with burn injuries shifted to AIIMS,

New Delhi: Fifteen men, who have suffered serious burn injuries in the NTPC plant explosion in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli, have been shifted to AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital here.

While six of them were admitted to AIIMS trauma centre, nine were taken to Safdarjung Hospital.

Majority of the six admitted to AIIMS have suffered extreme facial burns.

“They have been admitted in the burn department of the AIIMS trauma centre. One of them has 60 per cent burns, while others have burn injuries ranging between 25 and 50 per cent,” a senior doctor at the premier All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) said.

The injured were brought to AllMS around 8.30 pm, after being flown to Delhi in an air bus. A green corridor was created from the IGI Airport to the AIIMS trauma centre considering the seriousness of the patients.

Among the nine patients at Safdarjung Hospital, two of the injured persons were brought to the central government-run facility around 8 pm yesterday, while seven others were admitted in the burns ICU of the hospital early this morning.

“Five of the patients are very critical. While three of them have suffered around 80 per cent burns, two have got 60 -70 per cent burn injuries,” Dr Rajendra Sharma, the medical superintendent of the Safdarjung Hospital, told PTI.

The other four patients have suffered burns ranging between 25 and 45 per cent, Sharma said.

“We have the arrangements in place, in case more patients are to be brought, we can accommodate them,” Sharma said.

Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel visited the hospital last night to oversee and ensure that the blast burn patients get the best treatment and care.

The death toll in the massive explosion at the state-run power giant NTPC’s Unchahar plant climbed to 32.

Eighty-five injured people are being treated at hospitals in Rae Bareli, Lucknow and Delhi.

The NTPC has initiated a probe to ascertain the reasons behind the blast.

In a statement issued yesterday, the NTPC had said that at unit number 6 of its Unchahar plant, there was a sudden abnormal sound at 20-metre elevation on Wednesday afternoon.

The 1,550-MW plant supplies electricity to nine states, according to officials, and employs around 870 people.