Vedanta Plant Blast Toll Rises to 17 as Company Begins Probe

The death toll in a Vedanta Ltd. power plant explosion in eastern India rose sharply on Wednesday, making it one of the deadliest industrial disasters in recent times.

Seventeen workers had died as of Wednesday afternoon, while 19 others continued to receive treatment for grave burn injuries, Praful Thakur, the police chief of Sakti district in Chhattisgarh, where the plant is located, said by phone. An explosion in one of the boilers caused the incident, he said.