Image source - thenewsminute.com
Flames of burning fire was seen at a Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) plant at Malkapuram, Andhra Pradesh, on 25 May 2021 at 15:00 hrs.
A warning bell was immediately sounded to make the employees evacuate the plant. At least 100 employees were at the plant at the time of the incident. The HPCL company, in a tweet, said the fire has been extinguished, there were no casualties and everyone is safe.
"A fire incident occurred in one of the crude processing units of HPCL's Visakh Refinery at 3pm on 25th May 2021. Safety measures and firefighting was activated immediately. The fire has been extinguished. There is no casualty and no risk to public. Other Refinery operations are normal,"
The cooling process was immediately initiated. Officials suspects that mechanical fire in the pipeline might have triggered the fire, official reasons are still unknown. The pipeline was worn out which may have led to a leak which subsequently caught fire as the crude oil was being heated at 120-degree Celsius.
Teams from HPCL, personnel from the Eastern Naval Command and the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department managed to put out the fire in a swift operation.
HPCL runs an 8.3 million tonnes a year oil refinery at Visakhapatnam, according to news agency PTI. The unit turns crude oil into value added fuels like petrol and diesel. The fire will likely lead to shutting down of the crude distillation unit (CDU) for a few days.