3 killed in fire at Hazira IOC plant in Surat

Bodies of three workers were recovered from the storage tanker which went up in flames on Saturday afternoon at the Hazira IOC plant in Surat.

For almost 24 hours, about 100 fire tenders from government and private agencies battled to control the fire which gutted 5,000 kilolitres of petrol. Along with the loss of human life, the fire cost IOC close to Rs 45 crore.

Inquiry

IOC officials said the inquiry into the Hazira fire is expected to be completed in a fortnight even as the fire has been brought under control. While one of the victims has been identified as Jullundar, a worker at the site, the identities of the other two are yet to be ascertained. The tank where the blaze started had about 5,000 kilolitres of gasoline, almost half of IOC’s capacity, when it caught fire. Hazira, which is a also called a white-oil terminal, houses a tank farm to store petrol and diesel. It has five petrol storage tanks and four diesel tanks.