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| Sunday, 09 March 2003 |
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Fire breaks out at oil refinery in India GUWAHATI, India, Saturday (AFP) A devastating fire broke out at one of the world's oldest operating oil refineries in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said Saturday. A police spokesman said blaze broke out around midnight at the Digboi Refinery in eastern Assam, 530 kilometers (325 miles) from state capital Guwahati. "We are yet to ascertain how it happened and now the priority is to control the blaze which is showing no signs of relenting," a police officer told AFP by telephone from Digboi. Police said the fire broke out in a tank containing up to five million litres of naptha. There have been no reports of casualties so far. The cause of the fire was being ascertained, said Nandan Saikia, a spokesman for the refinery adding that sabotage was a possibility being considered. Separatist rebels in Assam have often targeted oil installations, bridges and railway tracks in the region. Five years ago, militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom lobbed grenades into a big crude oil depot, reducing it to ashes. The Digboi refinery, the flagship of state-owned Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest commercial enterprise, produces about 650,000 tons of crude oil annually, besides high quality wax and other petrochemicals. With several big petroleum tanks situated adjacent to the one where fire erupted, officials were worried the heat generated could affect the others. "We are using cooling devices to keep the other tanks from catching fire," another official said. Hundreds of residents in Digboi have been evacuated. The blaze was shooting up to a height of more than 100 meters (yards). |
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