Balco chimney falls, casualties feared

October 7th, 2009 RAIPUR - A senior official of the Gannon Dunkerley and Company Ltd (GDCL), which was constructing the 257-metre chimney for the Balco power plant at Chhattisgarh's Korba town, was arrested Wednesday for the Sep 23 chimney collapse that killed 45 workers. "After a detailed interrogation of GDCL project manager Manoj Sharma for the past few days, we finally arrested him today (Wednesday) for the Balco mishap," District Superintendent of Police (Korba) Ratanlal Dangi told IANS.

October 7th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh police have interrogated several Chinese engineers employed by Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO) at Korba town to probe the Sep 23 collapse of an under-construction power plant chimney that killed 45 workers. "We have interrogated a few Chinese engineers of SEPCO since Monday regarding the Balco tragedy and have also collected some documents," Vivek Sharma, police station in charge of Balco Nagar in Korba, told IANS over phone.

October 5th, 2009 RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government Monday suspended a senior labour official after an under-construction chimney collapsed at a Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) power plant Sep 23, and left 45 workers killed under its debris. Satyaprakash Verma, assistant labour commissioner, was suspended on chages of dereliction duty for remaining absent in the aftermath of the tragedy from Korba town without informing his senior, a state government statement said.

September 30th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh police have summoned the CEO of aluminium major Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) for the Sep 23 collapse of an under-construction chimney at a power plant in Korba that killed 45 workers, officials said. "We want to know certain things about the chimney crash tragedy from the Balco management and we have issued a notice to its CEO, Gunjan Gupta, to report to Balco Nagar police station at the earliest," Vivek Sharma, station in-charge of Balco Nagar police station, told IANS over the phone.

September 27th, 2009 RAIPUR - Authorities at the Mana Airport in this Chhattisgarh capital are on an alert to stop Chinese nationals, employed at a Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant, from fleeing after an under-construction chimney collapsed Wednesday killing at least 45 people, police said Sunday. "About 70 Chinese nationals, mostly engineers, have left Korba town amid rising death toll of workers," a police source told IANS.

September 26th, 2009 RAIPUR - Dozens of Chinese nationals, mostly engineers, working at Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) in Chhattisgarh's Korba town are reported to have fled fearing attacks by locals after a 100-metre under-construction chimney at the plant collapsed Wednesday, trapping many workers. So far, 40 mutilated bodies have been recovered.

September 26th, 2009 RAIPUR - Dozens of Chinese nationals, mostly engineers, working at Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) in Chhattisgarh's Korba town are reported to have fled fearing attacks by locals after a 100-metre under-construction chimney at the plant collapsed Wednesday, trapping many workers. So far, 45 bodies have been recovered.

September 25th, 2009 RAIPUR - Rescuers had retrieved the bodies of 34 workers till Friday noon from the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant in Chhattisgarh and were struggling to remove the debris of a 100-metre chimney that crashed two days ago. Police fear dozens are still trapped underneath.

September 25th, 2009 RAIPUR - Rescuers had retrieved the bodies of 38 workers till Friday afternoon from the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant in Chhattisgarh and were struggling to remove the debris of a 100-metre chimney that crashed two days ago. Police fear dozens are still trapped underneath.

September 25th, 2009 RAIPUR - The bodies of 40 workers, all badly disfigured, were recovered till evening from under the debris of a collapsed chimney at the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant in Chhattisgarh as rescuers continued to search for survivors on the third day Friday. Authorities fear several more are still trapped in the debris.

September 24th, 2009 BALCO NAGAR - As night stretched into day, rescuers Thursday continued their struggle to find survivors amongst the 50 workers suspected to be trapped under the debris of the 100-metre chimney of the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant that had crashed the day earlier killing 20 people. District authorities at Korba, about 250 km from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur, said the death toll could surge once the wreckage from the under-construction tower at the coal-fired power plant was cleared.

September 24th, 2009 BALCO NAGAR - Over 100 rescuers struggled throughout Thursday to save dozens of people suspected to be still trapped under the debris of a 100-metre chimney of the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant here that crashed Wednesday. At least 26 bodies have been retrieved and the workers are now demanding a CBI probe into the crash.

September 24th, 2009 BALCO NAGAR - Over a hundred rescuers struggled here Thursday to reach an estimated 50 people still trapped under the debris of a 100-metre chimney of the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant that crashed a day earlier killing 20 people. District authorities at Korba, about 250 km from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur, said the death toll could surge once the wreckage from the under-construction tower at the coal-fired power plant was cleared.

September 23rd, 2009 BALCO NAGAR - The rescuers early Thursday continued their search for survivors under the debris of an under-construction power plant chimney of the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) that caved in Wednesday amid heavy rain killing at least 20 labourers. Dozens of people were waiting at the crash site to know the fate of their loved ones who were belived to be trapped under the rubbles.

September 23rd, 2009 RAIPUR - At least 20 workers were killed and some 50 were trapped under debris when a chimney of an under-construction power plant of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) collapsed in Chhattisgarh's Korba town Wednesday afternoon, police said. The state government ordered a judicial inquiry into the accident that took place when about 100 workers and engineers were engaged in the construction work at Balco Nagar area, some 250 km north of state capital Raipur.