Bokaro, July 5: Leaking carbon monoxide triggered an alarm at Bokaro Steel Limited last evening.

Three workers at blast furnace II of the plant accidentally inhaled the leaking gas and fell unconscious. Naresh Ekka, Nandlal Chauhan and Santosh Goswami were rushed to Bokaro General Hospital.

They were contract labourers working for MD Thapan and Company, which has been entrusted with modernisation and maintenance work at the furnace.

Steel plant sources said the three were working near the stove of the blast furnace when the gas leaked. The workers, who faced the full blast, started feeling dizzy soon thereafter and gradually sank to the ground. Others rushed them to hospital.

The chief of communications of Bokaro Steel, Sanjay Tewary, told The Telegraph that Santosh had been released from the hospital.

“The others,too, are out of danger. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident,” he added.