The accident site at Aska Cooperative Sugar Industries in Ganjam. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Jan. 23: An elderly woman and two children died of suffocation when a molasses tank of Aska Cooperative Sugar Industries (ACSI) Limited, at Aska, burst and the slurry entered the company’s staff quarters on Sunday night.

The deceased have been identified as Hemalata Raula, 68, her six-year-old grandson Dipak and four-year-old neighbour Sandip Rao, police said on Monday.

The three were asleep when the accident occurred.

“One of the four molasses tanks burst and the slurry gushed into the quarters of two workers Basant Raula and Srinu Rao near the tank and resulted in the deaths. There was five-feet deep slurry inside these quarters. We dragged out the bodies an hour after the accident,” said Ram Chandra Nayak, president of Nuagaon Surakshya Manch, a local body. Each tank has a capacity of 2,500 tonne.

“My mother Hemalata and youngest son Dipak died. My wife Sarmita and eldest son Pintu, who were also inside the quarter, ran to safety as soon as they heard the bang,” said Basant Raula, who left home for work at the factory around 10pm.

There are about 50 staff quarters near the factory and the molasses tanks are situated behind them.

“My quarter is situated about 12 feet away from the tank. The impact of the blast broke the walls of the quarter,” said Raula, who has been working as a labourer at ACSI for 30 years. He has demanded Rs 25 lakh as compensation for his loss.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who was scheduled to visit Aska, Buguda and Hinjilicut to campaign for the BJD ahead of the panchayat polls, cancelled his visit because of the ACSI incident.

ACSI has remained closed since the incident and the senior officers are yet to turn up at the factory, sources said.

The villagers of Nuagaon, who dragged out the bodies from the quarters, have set up a road block under the banner of Nuagaon Suraksha Manch and are demanding the immediate shifting of ACSI because the area is facing a severe pollution threat.

Three platoons of police have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order. The villagers blocked the road with boulders and burnt tyres and kept the bodies on the road till the afternoon. Traffic to Buguda, Kabisurya Nagar, Khallikote, Bhubaneswar, Odagaon has been affected.

The additional district magistrate of Ganjam, Nirmal Mishra, is staying at the inspection bungalow near the sugar factory to review the situation.

“We will inquire into the cause of the incident,” he said.“We will request the State Pollution Control Board to help in the inquiry,” he said.