Vadodara IOCL refinery fire: Death toll rises to 2; probe underway

The death toll in a fire at the Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) refinery in Gujarat's Vadodara city has gone up to two, while another injured person was undergoing treatment, police said on Tuesday. The fire that began on Monday afternoon with a blast in a benzene storage tank of the refinery later spread to two other adjoining tanks, Jawahar Nagar police station inspector A B Mori said.

The blaze was brought under control after efforts which continued till the wee hours of Tuesday, he said. Two persons -- Dhimant Makwana and Shailesh Makwana -- died in the fire. An IOCL official received injuries and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, Mori said.

The condition of the injured person was stable, he said. The blaze was brought under control after extensive efforts involving several fire tenders brought in from nearby cities and towns, officials said.

The blast occurred at the IOCL refinery located in the Koyali area on the outskirts of Vadodara which triggered the blaze, an official earlier said. The IOCL in a statement on Monday evening said the "fire was reported at around 3.30 pm in a benzene storage tank (1000 KL capacity) at Gujarat Refinery".

The adjacent water sprinkler system was activated to contain the fire, it said. "The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained," it added.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) D J Chavda told reporters late Monday night that the fire had spread to the adjoining storage tanks.
Visuals showed thick plumes emerging from the refinery which could be seen from kilometres away. Several workers were evacuated and could be seen exiting the IOCL campus.

Following the fire, fluid circulation in the IOCL complex was stopped as per the standard operating procedure. Other storage tanks were being cooled to ensure the blaze didn't spread, Vadodara Police Commissioner Narasimha Komar said.

All the employees who were working in the shift were moved out of the refinery and the people reaching the refinery for subsequent shifts were turned back for safety reasons, he said.

The police, district administration officials, and senior executives of IOCL reached the site after the incident.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)

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