Fire at Reliance refinery in Jamnagar, 2 killed; production not affected

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Rajkot: At least two persons were killed and six others were left critically injured when a fire broke out at the refinery site of Reliance Industries in Gujarat on Thursday.

There was no hit to the production.

The fire broke out at around 3 am at the company's fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU), a gasoline-making unit, at the 660,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery, which was under maintenance, said a company source under condition of anonymity.

Eight workers suffered burn injuries and were taken to state government-run GG Hospital in Jamnagar city.

“Total eight persons have been admitted to the hospital and two of them have died. The remaining six are being shifted to higher centres for further treatment,” The Indian Express quoted a doctor of the GG Hospital as saying.

Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has two advanced refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat that can jointly process 1.2 million bpd of crude oil.

The part of the refinery where the fire broke out was in the domestic tariff area (DTA) of the refinery site. The second 540,000 bpd refinery is located in the special economic zone of the refinery site.

Reliance confirmed the there was a "flash fire" in one of its units which was under planned maintenance in the DTA refinery.

"While the Reliance fire brigade extinguished the fire swiftly, this has resulted in injuries to 8 contract workers, who are being provided necessary medical treatment," the statement said, and added that all operations of the refinery continue to be normal.

(With Agency inputs)