2 Firefighters Killed In Assam Oil Well Fire

GUWAHATI: Two firefighters of Oil India Limited have lost their lives while fighting the oil well inferno in Assam's Tinsukia district. The two deceased employees of OIL have been identified as Durlov Gogoi and Tikheswar Goha.

Durlov Gogoi is a goal keeper who had represented Assam in junior national tournaments. He had also played for Oil Inda Ltd's senior team. Efforts are being made to reduce the fire and it could take nearly four weeks to control it. Police, military, para-military forces and NDRF teams are deployed at the spot.

Oil India spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika told a news agency that, "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."

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressed severe grief over the death of two OIL employees out of the four missing personnel. Sonowal asserted that he has explained the on-going situation and the  measures that are being taken  by the state government to control the fire to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He further added  that,  "The fire has now been confined to an area of 50 metres. Experts believe that they need around 25-28 days to control the situation. We have successfully evacuated people from that area. PM Modi has assured full assistance to the state."

The oil field in the Baghjan area of Assam has been engulfed in a massive fire on Tuesday after 14 days of gas leaking. The fire was intense and it could be seen from 10 km away.

The union petroleum ministry said in a statement, “The well was planned to be capped by following the advice of experts and taking all safety precautions. While the clearing operations were going on at the well site, the well caught fire on 9 June 2020 around noon time, spreading the fire in an area of about 200 meters around the well site. The cause of the fire has not been ascertained till now. The debris of burnt rig, fire engines and other material around the well site will be removed before any operation can be started to cap the well. Arrangements of continuous water supply will have to be made before activities are undertaken at the site which is likely to take 5-6 days to make these arrangements, and all the operations will take about 4 weeks to complete."