Fire at HPCL’s plant in Visakhapatnam, no casualty reported

Imaged tweeted by ANI showed huge flames and smoke billowing out of the HPCL plant.

A major fire broke out at one of the crude processing units of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (HPCL’s) plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam on Tuesday afternoon, the state-run company said. “A fire incident occurred in one of the crude processing units of HPCL’s Visakh Refinery today. Safety measures & firefighting was activated immediately. The fire has been extinguished. There is no casualty & no risk to the public. Other Refinery operations are normal,” HPCL said in a tweet.

No casualties have been reported after the fire at HPCL's plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam but a few workers are said to be trapped in the unit. (ANI Photo )

No casualties have been reported but a few workers are said to be trapped in the unit. All the employees of HPCL in the nearby units have been evacuated, officials said. Ambulances also have been rushed to the spot, they added.

“As per information, a blast was reported at Unit-3 plant in HPCL. Five fire tenders are present at the spot. More fire tenders are being rushed. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained,” deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Aishwarya Rastogi was quoted as saying by ANI earlier.

Images tweeted by ANI showed huge flames and smoke billowing out of the HPCL plant.

“There was a deafening sound like a blast and there was a ball of fire. The siren was sounded and we all came running out to safety," a worker said, according to news agency PTI.

The HPCL’s Vizag refinery has three crude units.