President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have condoled the death of nine people in fire at Srisailam hydroelectric plant in Telangana.

While President Kovind said he is “pained by the loss of lives”, PM Modi called the incident “deeply unfortunate”.

“Pained by the loss of lives in the tragic fire accident at Srisailam hydroelectric plant in Telangana. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I wish speedy recovery for the injured,” President Kovid said on Twitter.

Pained by the loss of lives in the tragic fire accident at Srisailam hydroelectric plant in Telangana. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I wish speedy recovery for the injured.

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 21, 2020

“Fire at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest,” PM Modi tweeted.

Fire at the Srisailam hydroelectric plant is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 21, 2020

The fire broke out late on Thursday night when 30 people were inside the plant. While six employees were rescued and brought out of the tunnel, 15 others managed to come out through the emergency exit route of the project.

The remaining nine were trapped as thick smoke engulfed the inside tunnel, making it difficult for the rescue teams to reach the place. They were killed on Friday.

Of nine bodies recovered, three were identified as assistant engineers – Sundar Naik, Mohan Kumar and Fathima.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered a comprehensive enquiry by Crime Investigation Department (CID) into the cause of the accident. Govind Singh, CID’s additional director of police, has been appointed as the inquiry officer. Singh has been asked to submit a report at the earliest.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the Srisailam power station fire. Describing it as unfortunate, KCR said all the efforts were made to rescue the trapped engineers and bring them out alive, but in vain. He expressed his deep condolences to the bereaved families.

Telangana Minister for Power Jagadeeswar Reddy, Nagarkurnool district collector L Sarman, Telangana Transco, GENCO CMD Prabhakar Rao, local MLA G Balaraju, were among those who visited the site.