Explosion at Indian power plant kills 16, injures dozens

An explosion at a thermal power plant has claimed the lives of at least 16 workers and seriously burned dozens of others in northern India.

According to local media reports, Anand Kumar, the director-general of police in the state capital Lucknow, said that the blast occurred at the coal-fired power plant in Uttar Pradesh state.

Some media reports put the number of the injured at 100.

Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, expressed condolences to the bereaved and offered each a compensation of 200,000 rupees ($3,096).

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion at the plant, which is run by the government-owned National Thermal Power Corporation.

According to the state operator, rescue operations were underway after the "unfortunate accident in the boiler" at the coal plant in Rae Bareli district.

Workplace accidents are common across India, where lax enforcement of regulations and poor safety standards have led to horrific deaths.

On Tuesday evening, at least 13 people, including a pregnant woman, were killed after an electricity transformer exploded outside a wedding in the western state of Rajasthan.

Dozens of guests had assembled for the ceremony in Jaipur when the transformer blew up, spewing metal shards and hot oil.

India's power distribution system is prone to accidents, mostly because of poor maintenance and underfunding in rural areas.

According to the most recent data available from the national crimes records bureau, nearly 10,000 people died of electrocution in India in 2015.

SS