A major fire broke out at a plant of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) in Malkapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, but no immediate casualties were reported so far.

The local administration rushed in five fire tenders to douse the fire that erupted in the crude distillation unit in the HPCL old terminal. As of now, the cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained. 

The company has said that safety measures and fire fighting were activated immediately after the fire incident occurred. In a statement, it said, A fire incident occurred in one of the crude processing units of HPCL’s Visakh Refinery today. Safety measures & firefighting was activated immediately. 

The fire has been extinguished and there is no casualty and no risk to the public. Other Refinery operations are normal, it added.

According to the sources, company officials are using the latest technology to douse the flames. They have vacated the employees from the plant premises as a precautionary measure.

As per the local residents, there were a couple of blasts before the fire broke out and a huge column of smoke was billowing out from the plant. While coming out of the plant, some company workers said that there was a deafening sound like a blast and there was a ball of fire. The siren sounded and we all came running out to safety.

As per information, a blast was reported at Unit-3 plant in HPCL. Five fire tenders are present at the spot. More fire tenders are being rushed. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained, said DCP Aishwarya Rastogi.

Read Also: Toolkit row: Opposition slams police raids at Twitter offices, calls it cowardly

However,  the initial investigation suggested that the fire was caused due to a blast in a pipeline in the crude distillation unit (CDU) of the HPCL plant. The CDU has been shut down following the accident, said the officials.

The post Major fire at HPCL plant in Vishakhapatnam, no casualties reported so far appeared first on APN News.