A crude oil tank in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited on Saturday caught fire after it was struck by lightning.
According to HPCL officials, the lightning hit the tank at around 6.30 p.m. and HPCL fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought it under control within an hour. There was no casualty or injury to any person.
There are about two to three crude oil tanks in that area and all are safe and the fire did not spread, said the officials. The damage is still to be assessed. The lighting hit 01-D crude oil tank and it did not affect the refining process, said U.S. Sarma, Senior Manager, Public Relations.
In August 2013, 28 people died when a cooling tower under-construction collapsed, and in September 1997, 61 people died when an explosion occurred due to a leak in the liquid petroleum gas storage, in HPCL, Visakhapatnam.
CPI (M) State Secretary Ch. Narasinga Rao pointed out that in every storage tank there is mechanism to handle such lightning issues, it apparently failed. He alleged that the mechanism had failed, as its maintenance was handed over to a private agency. He also alleged that the automatic sprinklers also failed and the fire had to be contained by using chemical foam.