Fire breaks out at HPCL plant in Visakhapatnam, no casualties reported

Fire occurred in the overhead system of one of the distillation units, says the oil refiner

Panic ensued after a fire broke out at the refinery of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) here on Tuesday, but no casualties were reported. Dense plumes of smoke and flames were seen rising from the refinery.

On getting news about the incident, the police rushed to the spot and evacuated the people from there. According to sources, the fire broke out at the newly-constructed block in the HPCL premises. Fire tenders have been rushed to the spot.

An emergency siren was immediately sounded following which the employees and workers rushed out of the unit.

"There was a deafening sound like a blast and there was a ball of fire. The siren was sounded and we all came running out to safety," some workers said, coming out of the plant.

As per information, a blast reported at Unit-3 plant in HPCL. Five fire tenders are present at the spot. More fire tenders are being rushed. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained, says DCP Aishwarya Rastogi.

"A fire incident occurred in one of the crude processing units of HPCL’s Visakh Refinery today. Safety measures and fire fighting was activated immediately. The fire has been extinguished. There is no casualty and no risk to the public. Other refinery operations are normal," said HPCL in a statement.

"It is to confirm that there has been no casualty. All people are accounted and are safe. Fire has been extinguished completely. Except the particular unit where fire occurred, all other process units of Visakha Refinery are operating normally. Fire occurred in the overhead system of one of the distillation units. The other 2 distillation units, all secondary processing units and other operations of the refinery are normal. The affected unit will be brought to operation after carrying out the necessary inspection and repairs following due procedures at the earliest. There will not be any disruptions in the supply of products," added HPCL.