Rourkela (Odisha), Nov 16 (PTI) One person was killed and two others were seriously injured on Thursday after an explosion occurred in an industrial furnace of a private steel plant in Odisha’s Sundargarh district, police said.

The incident took place early morning at Shubh Ispat Pvt Ltd in Kulunga Industrial Development Council area here, a senior officer said.

The explosion was so massive that a portion of the furnace of the plant was blown away, he said.

Night shift in-charge Chinmaya Behera, in his early thirties, died while two other workers, one from Bihar, have been shifted to VSS Medical College and Hospital, Burla.

Their condition was stated to be very serious, an official said.

State Labour Department's assistant director of factories and boilers, Rourkela, Bibhu Prasad said an investigation has been initiated.

“We are concerned about the accident and at this moment we are doing the preliminary investigation…we will definitely look into all the angles,” Prasad said.

“There was no one on the factory premises after the accident. The two injured are in serious condition. Once they recover, we will initiate further enquiry,” he said. PTI COR BBM BBM BDC