Fire in Guwahati Refinery, 8 Injured

Guwahati, Jan 11 : Fire broke out inside the Guwahati Refinery complex following the burst of the slob oil tank number 56 of the Refinery’s tank firm around 7 this evening. However, the fire was brought under control speedily.

Five fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control within about half an hour’s time. Eight persons injured in the incident have been rushed to the Refinery Hospital till the filing of this report, while IGP CWR GP Singh said that the exact number of persons injured in the incident is yet to be ascertained.

Deputy General Manager (Human Resources) of the Refinery WR Barbora, accompanied by Deputy General Manager (Production) Gautam Das Gupta, told reporters that a multi-disciplinary enquiry committee has been formed with the officials from the refinery operations, safety, maintenance, electrical and mechanical departments to go into the incident.

However, contradicting the claim of the anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) that it had triggered the blast in the tank firm of the Refinery, the DGM (HR) of the Refinery ruled out any kind of sabotage.

IGP CWR, who rushed to the spot immediately after the incident had taken place, also ruled out possibility of any sabotage, saying, the tank is too deep and there is remote chance of any sabotage.

Some refinery employees alleged that welding work was going on for a new crude chamber near the tank. A spark from the welder’s nozzle caused the blast in the tank. When the tank went off, around 200 persons were working at the site.

Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (Metro) Asutosh Agnihotri also visited the site immediately after the incident and inspected the spot along with the senior civil and police officials.

A large number of people gathered in front of the Refinery after the fire broke out. The refinery workers as well as the people of the locality rushed out of their houses immediately after the fire broke out. The administration closed the road leading to the refinery but the flow of crowd could not be checked.

The people alleged that the refinery authorities failed to take adequate precautionary and safety measures. They also alleged that the refinery authorities could not arrange for adequate number of ambulances to deal with any such eventuality.