One person died in a major fire that broke out on the under-construction warship INS Visakhapatnam at Mazgaon Dockyard in Mumbai on the evening of Friday, 21 June.
"Under-construction warship 'Visakhapatnam' caught fire at 5:44 pm. The blaze erupted on the second deck of the ship," PS Rahangdale, the chief of city fire brigade told PTI.
Eight fire-fighting engines, along with quick-response vehicle, have been pressed into service to extinguish the blaze. Navy submarine fire team and Mazagon Fire Fighting team are present on the site and are on standby.
“A major fire incident took place on Yard 12704 (Visakhapatnam), the first class of Project 15 B during operations in tank at MDL today at 4 PM which was brought under control by 7 PM. One contract worker unfortunately succumbed possibly due to asphyxia and burn injury and another suffered minor burns. An inquiry has been constituted to ascertain the cause of fire,” Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited said in a statement, reported ANI.
"Bajendra Kumar (23) was brought dead to the hospital," the Chief Medical officer of state-run JJ Hospital said.
"The cause of the fire will be ascertained after a proper inquiry, but the first priority is to douse the fire with a minimum loss," another fire brigade official told PTI.
Mazgaon Dockyard is the only facility in India having capability to build sub-marines. Visakhapatnam, the largest warship of its class, was unveiled for construction in Mazgaon Docks in April 2015.
It is the first of the four stealth guided missile destroyers to be built under Project 15-B Class.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
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