Jaipur IOC depot fire rages on; 13 killed, 150 injured

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The death toll in Indian Oil Corporation depot fire disaster in Jaipur has risen to 13 with over 150 injured, reports claimed early Friday. This is one of the worst fire related incident in IOC’s history.

The official death toll still stands at five. Meanwhile, senior state and police officials are saying that another 5-6 people are still trapped inside. Teams from the Army and Bombay High are trying to control the fire in the oil depot located in Sitapura Industrial Area on the highway near the airport 20 kms from the pink city.

Even as relief and rescue operations continue, one more explosion was heard.

Elaborating more on the rescue operation, Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who has arrived in Jaipur, said, “Experts have been called in to help in accessing and minimising the damages done to the IOC establishment”.

"We will have to let all the fuel burn. Only then will experts be able to go anywhere near the site," Deora told reporters here after a visit to the site with senior officials of the state-run company. "We expect the fuel to burn out by evening."

Deora also announced compensation of Rs 5 to 10 lakhs to the victims and their families.

It is believed that fire broke out –due to leakage - when petrol was being transferred from the fuel depot to a pipeline at around 7.30 pm yesterday.

Huge flames shot into the air amid billowing smoke as hundreds of people in the villages in and around the depot panicked and fled from their homes. The fire also spread to some industrial units in a radius of three km destroying them.

IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria told a news agency that the fire broke out at a petrol storage tank and quickly spread to other tanks. Police said several explosions were heard.

The IOC tank farm had 8 to 10 storage containers that stored petrol, diesel kerosene for supply in Jaipur and adjoining areas.

Officials said steps were being taken to ensure that the fire did not spread far through the pipeline.

Electricity in the area has been cut off as a precautionary measure.

Dr Ashok Pangudia, Medical Superintendent at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital, confirmed that twelve persons have so far died in the incident, while one person was reported to have died in a private hospital. Some of the injured had splinter injuries, he said.

The injured were also rushed to Mahatma Gandhi and SMS hospitals. Some of them had serious burn injuries.