Ongc Well Catches Fire

An oil well of the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), situated at Narnavi village of Vagra taluka in Bharuch district, 60 km from Ankleshwar caught fire at around 2.30 am on Tuesday, when a gang of miscreants were trying to pilfer oil through the well head.

An oil tanker, which was parked nearby for filling the pilfered oil also caught fire, killing two on the spot and wounding three others critically. However, three other members of the gang who were awaiting their turn with three empty oil tankers to execute the pilferage operations, managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

ONGC sources said while two dead bodies have been recovered from the site, three others were rushed to Bharuch hospital with severe burn injuries.

Though more than a dozen fire tenders from ONGC and Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd (IPCL) were deployed to fight the blaze that had completely engulfed the well, the fire was still raging when this story was being filed at 8.00 pm.

According to sources, a team of ONGC officials including asset manager A K Mehta, director (onshore) R C Gourh and executive director (safety, health and environment) K K Jagati rushed to spot as soon as they got the news of the tragedy.

Moreover, a crisis management team of the corporation from Vadodara also reached the site and another team from Rajamundri in Andhra Pradesh has also left for Ankleshwar, they added.