Raigarh: Two of the four workers injured in a fuel tank explosion at a steel plant in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Wednesday, have succumbed to their injuries at a private hospital here, police said.

Kanhaiyalal (59) and Jairam Khalko (35), who had suffered nearly 90% burn injuries in the incident, died at the hospital here late on Thursday night, Raigarh Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh said on Friday.

The blast had occurred on Wednesday evening when the workers were cutting an old diesel tank with a gas cutter at a scrap yard in the premises of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) in Patralapli village, he said.

Four persons had suffered burn injuries in the blast and they were admitted to the private hospital, he said.

Police suspect there was some diesel or gas in the tank, which might have come in contact with the flame while it was being cut with the gas cutter, causing an explosion.

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"Kanhaiyalal and Khalko were about to be shifted to Raipur for further treatment, but it could not be done because they were in extremely critical condition," another police official said.

The remaining two workers are out of danger and undergoing treatment, he said.

A case has been registered in connection with the incident and investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Health and Safety Department here has issued a notice to two senior officials of the JSPL, seeking their reply in this connection.

On the condition of anonymity, a senior official of JSPL here said, the incident took place when the labourers, who were employed by a private contractor, were working in the scrap yard of the plant.

Soon after the incident, the injured were admitted to the hospital and police were informed, he said, adding that the cause of the explosion was being ascertained.

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