Indian Oil Storage Depot in Gujarat catches Fire

Ahmedabad: A major fire broke out on Saturday at a petrol storage tank in Hazira terminal of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Gujarat, company officials said.

Local authorities rushed fire brigades from Surat and nearby, while IOC sent fire tenders from its refinery at Koyali.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Officials said the blaze was reported at one of IOC’s five petrol storage tanks at the Hazira depot that was filled to half-capacity with around 5,000 kilolitres of petrol when it caught fire.

Hazira terminal has five petrol storage tanks and four diesel tanks.

This is the second major fire at IOC storage depots since 2009. In 2009, a fire had broken out at its Jaipur terminal that raged for 11 days, killing 11 people, and causing losses worth Rs.280 crore.

IOC sources said senior company officials are in Hazira to supervise operations and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.