UPDATE: Fire at Indian Oil’s Gujarat refinery kills two – reports

MUMBAI (ICIS)–A fire that erupted at Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) Gujarat refinery in western India on 11 November has killed two people as of Tuesday morning, according to media reports.

The blaze occurred at around 3:30pm local time (10:00 GMT) on 11 November at a benzene storage tank at the refinery, the company said in a statement.

A blast at the tank caused the fire, which spread to two adjoining storage tanks, according to local police inspector A B Mori.

A person injured in the fire died at the hospital, bringing the death toll to two, news daily Economic Times reported quoting police officials.

A third injured person is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital and is stable, they said.

The fire raged overnight before being completely extinguished early Tuesday morning, a company source said.

Following the fire, the refinery’s fluid circulation was halted and other storage tanks were being cooled down to prevent the blaze from spreading further, Vadodara police commissioner Narasimha Komar said during a media interaction on 11 November.

Indian Oil is currently investigating the cause of the incident and will continue to monitor the situation, the company official said.

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Initial reporting by Fanny Zhang