All 9 trapped killed in India's hydroelectric plant fire

Rescuers Friday recovered bodies of all the nine people who were trapped inside hydroelectric power plant that caught fire Thursday night in India's southern state of Telangana, reported Xinhua, quoting officials.

The fire broke out Thursday night in its under tunnel powerhouse of the Srisailam hydroelectric plant, which is near Telangana's border with Andhra Pradesh.

According to officials, 30 employees of Telangana State Power Generation Corporation (TSGenco) were inside the powerhouse at the time of the fire. Of them, six people were rescued and brought out of the tunnel, while as 15 others managed to come out through the emergency exit route.

"All the trapped nine people have been killed," an official of TSGenco said. "Their bodies have been retrieved from the plant and efforts are going on to contain the fire."

Officials said thick smoke was still coming out of the tunnel and efforts were underway to lessen its intensity.

The cause of fire was not immediately known. However, initial reports suggest a short circuit at Srisailam dam's left bank might have triggered the fire.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who has expressed grief over the deaths of employees in the fire has ordered a comprehensive enquiry by Crime Investigation Department (CID) to ascertain the cause of fire inside the power plant.

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind said he was pained by the loss of lives in the fire.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident unfortunate.

"Fire at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest," Modi wrote on twitter.

Two local ministers rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue efforts on the spot.

Chairman and Managing Director of Transco D Prabhakar Rao described the fire mishap at Srisailam Left Bank Power station as "unprecedented" and said he had never witnessed such an incident in a hydro electrical power unit so far.

"This is the first such accident at the plant," Rao told media. "Why it happened has to be investigated. How much damage has happened we will know only after the smoke goes away."

Officials said after fire broke out they have succeeded in isolating the 400KV power emanating from the Srisailam unit.