Five feared dead in fire at Gujarat's Kandla chemical storage terminal

New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: A blast occurred in a warehouse of chemical storage tanks, near Kandla port and Indian Oil Refinery in Gujarat on Monday. Fire tenders have rushed to the spot and a firefighting operation is underway. As per reports, at least one has died while four others have gone missing. All four missing labourers are feared dead by the rescue officials. 

The incident took place around noon on Monday, when a group of workers was involved in welding work at the storage tank.

Deputy SP Gandhidham DS Vaghela said, "The explosion in the tank triggered a fire. The tank number 303 at the warehouse of the Indian Molasses Company (IMC) was stored with Methanol when the explosion took place," as quoted by ANI. "Officials of Deendayal port trust along with 10 fire tenders are present on the spot. The search for missing employees is underway," she added.

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The tank containing 2,000 metric tons of methanol caught fire which were then blown away the roof of the tank. Officials in at the IMC terminal said, "Currently fire fighting is under progress by foam media by DPT fire brigade section, IMC team and other associated terminals."

The official also stated that to ensure the fire is not spread, the cooling of another nearby tank is also being done with the help of medium velocity water sprinklers.

In 2002, a similar accident had occurred in Kesar terminal and it had taken three days to control it and the entire Kandla complex was vacated at the time, reported IANS.  

Earlier on December 27, a labourer was killed while four others had sustained injuries in a blast at Sidhi Vinayak Steel factory in Nalagarh. As per prima facie, it appeared that lack of safety measures led to the tragedy. The police registered a case against the factory management.