Three foreign experts were injured on Wednesday after an explosion took place at Oil India Limited’s Baghjan gas well in Tinsukia, Assam. A massive fire has been raging at the gas well since June 9, PTI reported. The entire area has now been cordoned off.
The fire broke out when the experts were on their way to open the spool of the well before putting up the blow out preventer, which would have finally doused the fire, NDTV reported. However, the operation has now been halted.
Well number 5 has been spewing gas uncontrollably since a major blowout on May 27. It caught fire on June 9, killing two of firefighters at the site. Oil India had said then that the fire could take weeks to extinguish.
The injured technicians have been rushed to hospital at Dibrugarh, Jayanata Bormudoi, Oil India Limited’s senior manager, said. They have been identified as Anthony Steven Reynolds, Doug Dallas and Craig Neil Duncan.
At least 3,000 people in a 1.5-km radius of the oil well had to be evacuated on May 27 after the blowout. Oil India Limited had approached several experts to help stop the gas leak. The oil blowout destroyed local tea gardens and water bodies in Assam, triggering protests by local residents.
Last month, the National Green Tribunal had directed Oil India Limited to pay an interim fine of Rs 25 crore for the damage caused to public health and wildlife due to the fire.
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