Two people died and six others were injured after a fire broke out in the refinery complex of Reliance Industries Limited in Gujarat’s Jamnagar in the wee hours of Thursday. Guru Govindsinh Hospital Superintendent Nandini Desai told PTI that all the eight people who had sustained burn injuries were brought to the hospital in Jamnagar. “Two of them have succumbed to injuries,” she added.
The unit, which is in the domestic tariff area of the refinery site, was shut for maintenance work. An officer from Meghpar police station said the fire broke out because of gas leakage in the fluid catalytic cracking unit of the refinery complex. “The workers were grinding a pipe when spark from the grinder lit up residual hydrocarbon gas and led to a flash fire,” Jamnagar Superintendent of Police Pradip Sejul told The Indian Express. Currently, maintenance work in the unit has been suspended and investigation is underway. Sejul said a case of accidental death has been registered at Meghpar police station.
Company officials confirmed that operations at the refinery were not affected. “There was an unfortunate flash fire in one of the units under a planned maintenance shutdown in our domestic tariff area in the refinery at Jamnagar. All operations of the refinery continue to be normal,” the company said in a statement. Officials added that the fire brigade of Reliance was able to douse the flame quickly.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited has two advanced refineries in Jamnagar. These two jointly process 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to NDTV.
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