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A footwear of an employee killed in the blast hanging on a fan coil winding machine at Hindustan Engineering Industries in Balanagar on Monday.

HYDERABAD, Feb. 11

AN early morning blast in the fan-manufacturing unit of Hyderabad Engineering Industries (HEI), a Rs 40-crore- turnover Shriram Group company, left three workers dead, and `temporarily' crippled part of the production facilities.

The powerful explosion at 4 a.m. ripped through the twin doors of the baking oven plant, sending splinters flying all around and causing considerable damage, company officials said.

Describing the incident as a `freak accident', the first in the 40 years, since HEI, a part of the Jay Engineering Works, was established here, company officials said the baking oven and inspection equipment were completely destroyed. The loss was being estimated.

Meanwhile, the company, making the popular `Usha brand' of fans called in the manufacturer of the baking oven and initiated investigations through the factory inspectorate. The accident occurred during the third shift when the three workers were involved in baking the ceiling fan stators. Two trolley loads of ceiling fans stators are dipped in varnish and baked in the oven at 120 degrees centigrade, and later cooled.

The police said three employees were dead and 4-5 suffered minor injuries and were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The HEI unit has 260 employees in the fan manufacturing facility. Fifty per cent of the fans produced are exported to various countries. In the near future, the company plans to run the facility on the second baking oven.

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