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9 killed in Guwahati oil tanker blaze

At least nine people were killed and over 120 injured when an oil tanker caught fire and exploded at Khanapara area in Guwahati late last night.

Seven of the dead were students of the nearby Assam Veterinary College who woke up from sleep to find out what had happened. The police have identified the dead students.

The police said the incident took place at around 9.45 pm when a leaking tanker caught fire and exploded. The fire spread to at least 13 more tankers parked at the site. The blaze was doused after a four-hour operation.

Fire brigade personnel, however, suspected that the blaze was sparked by a cigarette butt.

The veterinary college, which is situated about 500 metres from the blast site, bore the brunt of the devastation.

Sources said it took nearly four hours, with all the fire tenders of the Guwahati city and Guwahati Refinery, to douse the flame. The fire was brought under control at about 4 am in the morning.

Of the injured, at least five are battling for life in hospital with more than 50 per cent burns.

The police said they were informed about a gas leak from a tanker at a depot in front of the animal health centre of the state veterinary college last night.

But before the police and the firemen could act, the tanker blew up, setting off chain explosions in 13 other tankers parked inside the depot.

''An about 200-metre wide swirling ball of fire rushed towards us and was almost on our face before we could run,'' said one of the injured, Dulal Bardoloi. Students of the veterinary college were burnt by the flaming splinters which fell on them.

Among the injured are officer in charge of the Dispur police station Uzzal Barua, sub-inspectors K Ahmed and B D Sharma, additional SP (fire) D Chakravarty, inspector (fire) T Nath, besides half a dozen firemen in their efforts to douse the fire.

The impact of the blast was so powerful that it was heard at a distance of five km. The fire devoured everything in its vicinity.

It ripped through electric posts and trees in the neighbouring area and even damaged the busy Guwahati-Shillong road. A part of the tanker was blown away to a distance of 500 metres.

The tanker belonged to a private company, Vishal Roadways, and it was coming from Duliajan to the bottling plant at north Guwahati. However, there was none in the Vishal Roadways office this morning to inform about the fate of the driver and handyman of the vehicle. It was not known which company owned the other tankers.

The firemen confirmed that the tragedy occurred due to leakage of gas and a small ignition, probably from a bidi or cigarette.

The injured were rushed to the Guwahati Medical College and the downtown hospital.

The hospital was a scene of utter chaos, with the injured lying scattered all around

According to attending doctors, most of them were out of danger since they were only singed by the splinters.

Most of the burn victims were people who came out of their houses to see the fire. As the tanker blasted and a huge ball of fire spread, it left them with very little time to escape to safety.

Many of them dived into a nearby pond but at least two of them died as their bodies were later fished out. The police believe that they drowned in the process of escaping the fire.

According to eyewitnesses and the firemen, the fire ball spread to almost half km and it took nearly two and a half hours to be brought under control.

There were about 50 tankers parked in the area but luckily the fire engulfed 13 of them only. In the blaze a city bus belonging to Vishal Roadways was also completely burnt.

Hundreds of people residing in the area were evacuated by those who had vehicles near the site.

UNI

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