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Fire damages oil depot in Assam

A massive fire broke out at an oil storage depot of the Indian Oil Corporation at Thakurguri near Nagaon this morning causing a loss of more than Rs 10 million and affecting supply of oil to Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and the Barak valley of Assam.

Police from Nagaon said the local villagers heard a blast at 4.30 am. The explosion reportedly triggered a fire in the storage depot adjacent to the national highway.

The fire immediately engulfed six of the seven storage tanks damaging 10,000 kilolitres of the petroleum products. Fire tenders, including those from Guwahati and Tezpur, had rushed to the spot and took more than six hours to bring the fire under control.

The traffic on the national highway was blocked as a precautionary measure as the fire tenders were still fighting the blaze.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire as well as possible involvement of any militant groups.

Though no militant organisation had claimed responsibility, but there were reports from the intelligence agencies that the ULFA would try to strike oil installations before the Independence day celebration to make their presence felt.

IOC officials said 15,000 to 10,000 kilolitres of kerosene, petrol and high speed diesel were stored in the tanks.

The depot was set up here a few years ago to ensure easy transhipment of fuel to the three neighbouring states and the Barak valley. There is likely to be a temporary setback in the supply of petroleum products to these areas.

The value of petroleum products is estimated at Rs 10 million. Senior police and army officials had been camping near the scene of fire, 13 km from the nearest town, Raha, in Nagaon district.

Central Industrial Security Force personnel posted there managed to escape before the fire spread to all the seven tanks.

Fire experts had rushed from Guwahati as well as Sibsagar to control the blaze.

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