Two firefighters die, over 50 houses gutted as fire at Assam's Baghjan oil well spreads

Dibrugarh/Guwahati: At least fire-fighters have died and over 50 houses have been gutted in the massive fire that erupted at the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan in Assam’s Tinsukia district nearly two weeks after a major blowout there.

According to Zee Media sources, the dead bodies of the two fire-fighters have been recovered and the fire-fighting operation continues at the spot.

The blaze at the Oil India Ltd's well is so massive that it can be seen from a distance of more than 30 kilometres with thick black smoke going up several metres high, endangering the local biodiversities which were already ravaged following the major blowout that happened on May 27.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF teams are present at the spot and trying to douse the fire, which continues to erupt from the gas well. The OIL-owned Baghjan well has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 15 days in Assam's Tinsukia district.

''The two firefighters had gone missing after the well-caught fire on Tuesday and their bodies were recovered by an NDRF team this morning,'' Oil India Spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika said.

"Their bodies were recovered from a wetland near the site. Prima facie it looks that they jumped in the water and got drowned as there is no mark of burn injury. The exact cause will be ascertained only after a post-mortem," he said.

The duo has been identified as Durlov Gogoi and Tikeswar Gohain, both assistant operators of the fire service department of the company, the official said. A firefighter of the state-owned ONGC suffered minor injuries during efforts to control the blaze, which Oil India said could take as long as four weeks to be put out.

Assam government has said that it is trying its best to control the fire which broke out at gas well of Oil India Limited at Baghjan in Tinsukia district.

Parimal Suklabaidya, State Environment and Forest Minister, said, "The situation is uncontrolled as of now. Our Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has talked to Central Government ministers. Assam government is trying its best to control the fire and authorities are working to control the situation."

Suklabaidya said that fire has spread in the nearby villages.

"Around 6 people have been injured. The fire that broke out at gas well of Oil India Limited at Baghjan in Tinsukiahas spread in the nearby villages. We are worried. Oil India Limited is saying that the situation will be controlled in 6-7 days. We are doing our best to control the situation," he added.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and urged them to take urgent steps to douse the fire that broke out when clearing operations were on at the site.

Sonowal was assured of all kinds of central assistance and told even the Air Force was on standby to deal with the emerging situation. There were protests in the area as the fire broke out, threatening the lives and livelihood of the people already facing the impact of the blowout for the last two weeks amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Following the gas leak, thousands of people were moved out of the area and provided shelter at different camps where following coronavirus guidelines, such as maintaining social distancing, remain difficult.

In a statement, Oil India said in view of the protests by people around the site, the chief Secretary and Tinsukia district administration were requested for maintaining law and order so that experts were allowed to enter the site and start the well control operations.

The staff of Oil India and ONGC are being shifted from the nearby areas and once the situation is normal, experts from Singaporean firm Alert Disaster Control and the state-owned companies will move to the site, it said.

The three experts from the Singaporean firm who started working at the site on Monday to stop the gas leak are confident that the situation can be controlled and the well can be capped safely, the statement said.

CM Sonowal while expressing his apprehension on the impact of the fire on the environment and people living in the fringe areas, stressed the need for putting out the fire at the earliest to ensure a conducive living condition for the people.

Environmental Impact Assessment is in progress and a team from the Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat has reached Duliajan, the Oil India said.