At least nine workers were injured in an explosion in a furnace chamber at a private steel plant in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district on Sunday, an official said.

The incident occurred at Murpa village under the Kuju outpost limits in the afternoon. Chief factory inspector Manish Sinha said two critically injured workers have been referred to a private hospital in Ranchi.

“Workers sustained burn injuries after hot metal splashed following an explosion in the furnace chamber of the plant. The factory inspector in Hazaribag has been directed to inquire into the issue and submit a detailed report at the earliest,” Mr. Sinha said.

Following the incident, all the injured were admitted to a private hospital in Ramgarh. Dr. Saurabh Kumar of the hospital said nine people were brought to the facility with burn injuries, and the two in critical condition were referred to a Ranchi hospital.

The injured have been identified as Kunjilal Ravidas, Parmeshwar Kumar Mahto, Ramesh Thakur, Rajendra Mahto, and Sanjay Prasad from Ramgarh district; Rajendra Mahto and Ritesh Rana from Hazaribag; Dhananjay Singh from Patna; and Vijay Yadav from Darbhanga in Bihar.

Ramgarh labour superintendent Anil Ranjan said department officials would visit the plant to review labour safety.