BALASORE: A 62-year-old petrol pump worker was killed in an explosion while an old storage tank was being cut at Satya Sai Filling Station in Nilagiri’s Baligohiri on Wednesday morning.
The deceased was identified as Birendra Singh of Bimburia village under Mukhura gram panchayat in Remuna police limits. At least three others in the vicinity of the explosion escaped unhurt, said a source.
The incident occurred around 9 am when workers engaged by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) were cutting a valve on an old petrol storage tank on the filling station premises with a gas cutter. Gas reportedly accumulated inside the tank triggered a powerful explosion. The impact blew off a heavy metal plate covering the tank, which struck Singh on the head. He died on the spot.
On being informed, Nilagiri Fire Services personnel rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. Following the incident, hundreds of people gathered at the site, and tension escalated as Singh’s family members and villagers demanded justice.
Nilagiri inspector-in-charge Gobardhan Nayak, along with other police personnel, reached the spot to bring the situation under control. The body was initially taken to Nilagiri hospital in an ambulance.
However, the family members and villagers brought the body back and staged a blockade on state highway 19 near the petrol pump along the Shergarh-Nilagiri-Jharanaghati route, disrupting vehicular movement for several hours.
Police also took petrol pump owner Diptikanta Mahapatra, manager Kamalalochan Nayak, the gas cutter operator and two other workers to the police station for questioning. The blockade was eventually lifted following discussions among the local administration, company officials and the petrol pump owner, after an assurance was given that `15 lakh would be provided to the bereaved family as compensation.
The body was subsequently sent to the hospital for postmortem. Police registered a case based on a complaint lodged by the deceased’s family, and an investigation is underway.
Police officials, including Additional SP Dibyajyoti Dash and Nilagiri SDPO Nirmala Gochhayat, along with a magistrate and a platoon of police personnel, were at the spot to maintain law and order.
