A fire that broke out in a large methanol storage tank near Kandla Port in Gujarat's Kutch district on Monday afternoon is still raging, officials said on Tuesday, 31 December.
People from surrounding areas have been shifted and other chemical tanks in the vicinity have been emptied as a precautionary measure, they said.
Four people, including an employee of IMC Group and three labourers, were killed after the private company's storage tank containing 1,700 tonnes of methanol caught fire following an explosion at 1.30 pm on Monday.
"Even after 24 hours, the fire in the tank is still raging because of methanol. Fire officials are doing their best to contain the blaze," said an official of the fire station at Kandla Port, managed by the Deendayal Port Trust.
“Other chemical tanks in the area have been emptied to prevent the fire from spreading further,” he said.
The Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) stated on Monday that the roof of the tank blew away due to the blaze.
The incident occurred when an employee of M/S IMC terminal, located around 16 kms away from Gandhidhan in Kutch district, and three labourers were conducting a routine inspection of the storage tank, the officer said.
Fire Fighting Operations Underway
"This terminal, having storage tanks, is situated in Kandla town, close to the port. When a company employee and three labourers went up on one of the methanol tanks for a routine inspection, the roof suddenly blew away with a blast. Fire-fighting is still on," said Deputy SP, Dhananjaysinh Vaghela.
He said bodies of all the four victims have been recovered from the site and being sent for postmortem.
While the deceased employee has been identified as Sanjay Wagh, the three labourers are identified as Sanjay Sahu, Darshan Rai and Omprakash Regar.
At least ten fire tenders of the Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) of Kandla and of Gandhidham municipality have been trying to douse the flames.
Vaghela, however, ruled out the possibility of further rise in the dath toll.
In a release, the Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) said fire fighting operations are on using foam.
"Fire broke out in one of the tanks of M/s IMC terminal at Kandla. Fire took place in a Methanol tank. Due to fire, the roof of the tank blew away. Currently, fire fighting is under progress by foam media by DPT fire brigade section, IMC team and other associated terminals," it stated.
The DPT further stated that "cooling of another nearby tank is being done by medium velocity water sprinklers".
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)