File picture of employees demonstrating outside the Bhushan Steel Plant.

Dhenkanal/Bhubaneswar, Nov. 14: The district administration and employees of the Bhushan Steel Plant today raised doubts over the number of casualties in yesterday’s fire tragedy at the plant.

The management had claimed that one person was killed and 19 were injured, 11 of them seriously, when the fire broke out after a blast in the furnace.

The employees today alleged that there were nearly 150 workers in the furnace when the accident took place. “Where have they gone? Many of them are missing till now,” said a labourer.

General secretary of the Bhusan Steel Shramika Sabha (labour union of the plant) Pabitra Biswal said: “All the workers, who marked their attendance yesterday, should be paraded to determine the exact number of missing.”

Dhenkanal district collector Rupa Roshan Sahu said: “We are aware of the doubts in people’s mind about the causality figure. I have asked police to conduct a search in the debris at the accident site. The police will send suspected materials for forensic tests to ascertain any more deaths in the blast.”

In another development, the police identified the deceased as Damodar Hasda, 22, of Badampahad in Mayurbhanj district.

Besides, the cops today produced three top company officials — chief operating officer Atul Verma, shift in-charge Naveen Tyagi and project president Meghpal Singh — before the court. They were sent to jail after their bail applications were rejected.

Director of the factories and boilers Purna Chandra Das, whose team is at the accident site, accused the plant management of not adhering to the safety procedure while commissioning the blast furnace. “The management is at the fault. The company commissioned the blast furnace without following standard safety procedures for which such large-scale explosion occurred. We have already sealed the furnace.”

Labour and employment minister Bijayshree Routray, however, said the state government was trying to meet the situation. “Steps have been initiated to disconnect the water and electric supply to the plant,” he said.