The Hindu : Front Page : Fire, blast rock IOC depot near Jaipur

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Fire, blast rock IOC depot near Jaipur

Special Correspondent

Photo: PTI/ IBN 7

A cloud of smoke and flames billows out after a major fire at an Indian Oil depot in the Sitapura area of Jaipur on Thursday.

JAIPUR: A devastating fire engulfed the Sitapura Industrial Area near here following a suspected explosion in a depot of the Indian Oil Corporation on Thursday evening.

Though initial reports from the spot did not mention any casualties, the condition of some of the 100 people admitted to Sawai Man Singh Medical College Hospital and various other hospitals in the neighbourhood of the industrial township was said to be serious.

The impact of the explosion and the consequent fire was such that the walls of buildings two to three kilometres away developed cracks and splinters of glass caused injuries to many. Many of the injured are from the staff of Genus Electronics, an electronic equipment manufacturing unit near the IOC depot.

The IOC depot has seven storage tanks and one of them was said to have caught fire. It was not clear whether a tanker truck which was leaving the place after refilling caught fire first or one of the huge vertical storage tanks which spewed fire after explosion.

According to latest available information, 12 patients each were admitted to Sawai Man Singh and Fortis Hospital with burns as well as splinter injuries. The condition of one person at Fortis Hospital was said to be serious.

A much larger number of victims—50 of them—were admitted to a private medical college, the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital, located near the industrial town. There were an unaccounted number of victims getting treated at various other hospitals in and around the place.

Around 9 p.m. the whole area was sealed by the authorities as the fire continued to rage in localities near the depot.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who visited Sawai Man Singh Hospital to enquire about the condition of the victims admitted there, told The Hindu that he had had word with Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on fire-fighting and relief operations. Mr. Gehlot also appealed to all the hospitals in the neighbourhood to provide free medical help to the victims without delay.

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