india

Updated: Jun 21, 2019 23:12 IST

One contract worker was killed and another person suffered burn injuries after a fire broke out at an under-construction warship of the Indian Navy near Mazgaon dock on Friday, according to officials.

The cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained. The fire was reported to be confined to the second and third decks of the warship “Visakhapatnam”, a stealth guided-missile destroyer. The ship was launched on April 20, 2015 and is expected to be commissioned in the Indian Navy in 2021.

“One contract worker died due to asphyxia and burn injury and another suffered minor burns. An inquiry has been constituted to ascertain the cause of fire,” said Ashish Singh, public relation officer of the Mazagon Dock Limited, a defence public sector undertaking.

The worker who lost his life has been identified as Rajendra Kumar (23).

Nearly eight fire engines, six water jumbo tankers and quick response vehicles were pressed into service to douse the flames. “The fire is confined to second and third decks of the ship. Our firefighters are at it along with the dockyard fire fighters. It is difficult to say anything at the moment as we cannot see any flames and there is smoke everywhere. It is very confined space with tremendous heat. The situation in here is like being in a furnace,” a senior fire official said.

Yashwant Jadhav, Shiv Sena corporator, said, “Apparently, there was a cylinder blast during the ongoing work on the ship. Locals said that this has led to the fire.” Visakhapatnam class comprises four ships —Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal and Porbandar — and all of them are being built by the Mazagon Dock Limited.