Inquiry report on IOC terminal fire by Jan 20: Veerappa Moily

After visiting the Indian Oil Corporation terminal where a storage tank was engulfed in a major fire, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily on Sunday said a high-level investigation into the incident has been ordered and a report is expected by January 20.

Two persons were killed in the fire in storage tank number four of IOC terminal in Hazira which was contained after a 21-hour operation by the fire brigade team.

Moily appreciated the work of local administration, fire brigade and other public and private sector companies for the massive disaster management operation and containing the fire which had started on Saturday afternoon.

He said petrol worth Rs35 crore has been burnt and another Rs10 crore loss of infrastructure has also been reported in the blaze.

The minister announced on behalf of IOC a compensation of Rs5 lakh each to the kin of those who died in the incident.

“We have already ordered a high-level investigation into the matter and the report is expected by January 20,” he told reporters after visiting the site.

“It is under investigation whether the fire was caused by human error or not, both by the district administration and a high-level inquiry. Everything will be investigated. No one will be spared if there is an error,” he said.

“The fire has been contained. Even though the other tanks were situated just by the side of Tank No 4, the damage was controlled and contained. The fire was confined to only one tank,” Moily said.

The IOC facility at Hazira has nine tanks located close to each other and Tank number four was also nearby.

“I must appreciate the services rendered by the fire services authority, employees of the municipal corporations and the state government and also appreciate the services of the public and private sector companies (in fire fighting),” Moily said.
“This is an immediate instance of disaster management mechanism in place, unlike Jaipur, where everything was gutted,” he said.
One of the IOC officials said that it may take another 24 hours to bring the fire totally under control.