NTPC plant blast: Rahul Gandhi visits Raebareli hospital, meets victims

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said he will be visiting Rae Bareli on Thursday morning, where at least 20 people were killed in a boiler blast at a unit of NTPC.

New Delhi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday arrived at Raebareli and met victims of the NTPC power plant blast, which has so far claimed lives of as many as 26 people.

Rahul, who was on in Gujarat for the third leg of his ‘Navsarjan Yatra’, decided to meet the victims of the mishap and take stock of the situation post the blast.

#WATCH Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi reaches Rae Bareli district hospital to meet those injured in #NTPCExplosion. pic.twitter.com/9hiEjpmkwr — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 2, 2017

"Due to the unfortunate NTPC accident, I will visit Rae Bareli tomorrow morning. Will join Gujarat Navsarjan Yatra in the afternoon," Rahul announced in his Twitter post on Wednesday.

#NTPCExplosion : Rahul Gandhi leaves from Surat for #Raebareli pic.twitter.com/Ee2PCaESJD

— ANI (@ANI) November 2, 2017

Rae Bareli is the parliamentary constituency of his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia would not be able to visit her constituency as she is not keeping well.

Earlier, Sonia in her condolence message stated that due to her bad health, she was not in a position to visit her constituency to meet the victims.

"In your hour of crisis, I stand by you and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. I wanted to come personally and share your grief but unable to do so as I am not well. I express my sympathies and condolences to the affected families," Sonia said.

Expressing her shock and horror at the tragedy, Sonia urged the authorities to provide immediate medical assistance to the injured.

She was recently rushed to a New Delhi hospital after she complained of an upset stomach. 

Rahul is in Gujarat as part of his three-day Navsarjan Yatra ahead of the Assembly polls in the State. He decided to visit his mother's constituency in wake of unfortunate accident in the power plant. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too expressed his condolence on the tragedy and said he was 'deeply pained' by the accident and the situation was being closely monitored. 

"Deeply pained by the accident at the NTPC plant in Raebareli. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly. The situation is being closely monitored & officials are ensuring normalcy is restored," he tweeted.

The NTPC has already initiated a probe to ascertain the reasons behind the blast while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is away in Mauritius on a three-day official visit, announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

On Wednesday, a blast at NTPC plant in Uttar Pradesh's Uchahar killed at least 18 and injured close to 100. The death toll rose to 26 by Thursday afternoon.

While local administration and NTPC officials rushed to conduct rescue operations, the toll is expected to rise further.