Raipur:
Chinese personnel working at Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant in Chhattisgarh's Korba town have fled fearing attacks by locals after a 100-metre under-construction chimney at the plant collapsed on Wednesday, trapping many workers. 50 bodies have so far been retrieved from the debris.
The personnel, mostly engineers, were employees of Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (Sepco), the China-based firm given the contract to build a thermal power plant for Balco.
Soon after the incident, the Chinese firm shut down its office fearing a backlash. The state government had issued lookout notices for the engineers who had fled after the tragedy.
The Raipur police managed to stop eight engineers at the Raipur airport.
"Investigation is going on. Many people have died in this tragic incident. We are questioning those who were responsible for the incident," said RK Vij, Inspector General, Chhattisgarh.