3 Chinese engineers in E Indian steel plant confirmed safe

Three Chinese engineers who were earlier reported missing in a blast furnace explosion in a steel plant of the Indian state Orissa are safe, said an official of the Chinese Consulate in Kolkata Monday.

She told Xinhua that the consulate got contact with them on Sunday and learned they were sub-contractors sent to India by a German company.

"Two of them are from Beijing... They came to India from Germany," she said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, foreigners are evacuating the Bhushan Steel Plant ( BSL) in Dhenkanal district in the east Indian state of Orissa, also known as Odisha, after at least one worker was killed in the explosion at the plant last Wednesday, said police.

Forty-two out of the 70 foreigners from the factory moved to the state capital Bhubaneswar Sunday for security reasons due to unrest in the area.

"Forty-two engineers and consultants, all Italians, moved to Bhubaneswar on their own as there is no work in the plant due to the unrest after the Nov. 13 mishap," Dhenkanal Superintendent of Police Manoranjan Mohanty said.

A local official said on Saturday five foreigners, two from Thailand and three from China, went missing during the blast.

The explosion occurred on Nov. 13 at about 00:10 a.m. in blast furnace No. 2 of Bhushan Steel Ltd plant in Narendrapur village, about 150 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

The state government began a probe after allegations that the company concealed information regarding the number of dead and injured, and arrested three senior company officials for negligence.

Workers, trade union activists and politicians have been protesting near the plant for days, accusing the company and the government of concealing information.

At least 98 people in the same plant have died in accidents since 2005, officials said.