Dhenkanal/Bhubaneswar: After the much hue and cry over the ‘missing’ report of five foreign nationals from the Blast furnace site of Bhushan Steel (BSL) since the Wednesday explosion, the company authorities on Sunday shifted 42 foreign engineers from the plant site to Bhubaneswar.
Though exact reason behind the development is yet to be known, officials on condition of anonymity said, the expat workers have been moved on safety grounds.
All the foreign nationals, engaged in the installation and commissioning of the ill-fated furnace, were accommodated in the premises of the plant, sources said.
Since the focus of the investigation shifted to foreigners after State Labour minister Bijayshree Routray raised an alarm about the whereabouts of five of them yesterday, officials of District Intelligence Bureau (DIB) on Sunday verified passports and travel documents of the foreign engineers at their residence.
“Though the foreign engineers, engaged by BSL authorities in the commissioning of blast furnance-2, they were not present near the accident site on that day. As per our records, of the 74 foreigners, 65 are present here while 9 have already left the district on 14 November. We have verified the departure record from the DIB. Also, as per the plant's reports no foreigner is missing,” Manoranjan Mohanty, SP, Dhenkanal said.
The official added, “We have got the Labour department’s list of 267 other employees who were in several shifts on that day. We are also verifying it and in a day or two it will be clear.”
Foreigners apart, the District administration has also begun a one-on-one verification of the persons basing on the information with Labour Department and contractors of BSL.
Meanwhile, the expert team from the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), inspecting the accident site of the plant, is yet to come out with a conclusive report about the reasons of the blast.