MUMBAI: Four people were killed and three injured when a huge fire broke out at an ONGC oil and gas processing unit at Uran near Navi Mumbai on Tuesday morning.Those killed include three personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for the security of the Uran plant. The fourth was an employee of ONGC. Officials said the three injured are also CISF personnel. The victims died during a blast while they were trying to check gas leakage at the site, a senior CISF official said.
Oil production was not impacted by the fire but the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) diverted natural gas produced from fields in the Arabian Sea to a similar processing facility in Gujarat. The supply, Mahanagar Gas Limited, was hirt“A fire was reported around 7.15 am this morning at stormwater drainage unit of the Uran plant possibly due to a gas leak. By 9.30 am the fire was brought under control. Unfortunately, we lost four precious lives in the accident,” Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in New Delhi. He asserted that there was no crisis and things were under control.
The exact cause of the fire was yet to ascertained.
Nearly 22 fire brigade tenders, including that of the ONGC, Navi Mumbai civic body and other agencies, were rushed to the spot, police officials said.According to locals, the drains pass near Nagav village on the outskirts of the plant. The fire spread to the area. Flames as high as 25 feet burned most of the vegetation in the area. The villagers were shifted to a safer location.
The deceased have been identified as Capt. E. Nayaka (48), S P Kushwaha (36) and M K Paswan (33) of the CISF and ONGC’s residential plant supervisor C N Rao (50). The injured were admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment, CISF’s Deputy Inspector General (west zone) Nilima Singh said. “It’s because of the alertness and dedication of the CISF personnel, major damage to the entire plant and township was averted,” Singh said.