Cause of HPCL Vizag fire yet to be established

Accident claimed 24 lives, including more than six deaths on spot when a fire broke out at newly-constructed cooling tower

The Andhra Pradesh state government authorities are yet to establish the cause of the fire accident that took place on August 23 at the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) refinery in Visakhapatnam.

“The inquiry into the incident is still going on as the accident of this scale happening at a cooling tower was unheard of,” G Bala Kishore, Director of Factories responsible for enforcing safety norms in factories, told Business Standard on Thursday.

The accident has so far claimed 24 lives, including more than six deaths on the spot when a fire broke out at the newly-constructed cooling tower. Under the law, the factories department  has to complete the inquiry process within 90 days from the date of accident. In case of violations, it will initiate the prosecution against the occupier of the factory.

“Accidents of this nature cannot happen without some kind of violations. However, we need to establish the cause of the accident to prove if there were any violations,” he said. The executive director of the refinery, who is the occupier of the factory, will be prosecuted if the department finds conclusive evidence that the factory authorities were somehow responsible for the accident, according to him.

After the inquiry, the department would serve notices to the executive director asking for his explanation. In case of any safety violations, the prosecution would be launched with the government permission, Bala Kishore said.