Fire yet to die, two more bodies found

Rescue workers removing a charred body discovered on Sunday, three days after the blaze started at IOC depot near Jaipur.

JAIPUR: Two more bodies of victims were recovered at the burning Indian Oil Corporation depot at Sitapura Industrial Area near here on Sunday, taking the toll in the industrial disaster to 10, even as the fire continued to rage in five of the 11 vertical fuel storage tanks for the fourth consecutive day.

Rescue workers, who spotted the two charred bodies near one of the blazing tanks on Sunday morning, could not immediately retrieve them because of the heat.

The bodies, which were removed later in the day, are believed to be those of the IOC employees who have been missing since the fire began on Thursday.

The IOC authorities expect the inferno to die out in another 24 to 48 hours with most of the petrol, diesel and kerosene stockpiled in the tanks having been exhausted in the fire.

Among the five tanks still burning, two were showing signs of subsiding and thick black plumes of smoke were billowing out of them.

Firemen extinguished the flames spreading to the roof of a private electronic and instruments company situated 200 metres from the boundary wall of the IOC storage facility.

Smoke, concentrated in the sky, has started descending on the Sitapura Industrial Area, Pratap Nagar residential colony and the villages situated nearby, making breathing difficult for the people and causing itching in the eyes. Thousands of residents in a radius of 5 km from the site have been evacuated after the district administration declared it a danger zone.

The Rajasthan Government has appointed two committees to assess the damage to the industrial units and the nearby villages.

One of the committees will assess the damage caused by the fire to different units in terms of building, plant, machinery and raw material and submit its report in seven days.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, after visiting the site, said the committees’ recommendations would be taken into account while preparing new master plans for the cities: “The depots stockpiling petrol and inflammable material have to be far away from the residential localities. Commercial activities in the residential areas are a serious cause for concern.”

State Principal Home Secretary Pradeep Sen has also given instructions for ensuring security of the terminals of Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited as well as the liquefied petroleum gas plant of Indane situated in Sitapura Industrial Area.