What happened

A fatal fire and reported boiler explosion struck Unit 6 at NLC India's lignite-fired Thermal Power Station II. The unit tripped at 16:41 on high furnace pressure while its lignite bunker was being filled. Fire was then reported around the bunker and conveyor at the 32-metre level; approximately two tonnes of lignite and 130 metres of conveyor belt burned before crews extinguished the fire at about 18:30. Eight workers were hospitalized with burn injuries. Contemporary coverage initially reported all eight as injured, but five later died, leaving three injured survivors. Unit 5 and Unit 7 also tripped during the event, and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health ordered Unit 6 closed on 8 May. Official summaries describe this as a Unit 6 fire involving the lignite conveyor after a high-furnace-pressure trip, while news reports commonly call it a boiler explosion; the reviewed public findings do not conclusively reconcile those descriptions. Fifty-five days later, a separate explosion and fire in neighboring Unit 5 killed 15 workers.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.