A high-level delegation of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) from Delhi and a West Bengal forensics team on Wednesday began probing the cause of fire in Haldia Refinery in Purba Medinipur district that claimed the lives of three people and caused burn injuries to 44 others on the previous day, officials said.
The condition of 38 injured workers who are undergoing treatment in various super-specialty hospitals in Kolkata, with some having 15-25% burn injuries, is stated to be stable and they are under observation; while maintenance work in other units of the refinery is undergoing despite some protests by workers over safety concerns, they said.
State government demanded that a compensation package for the dead and injured workers be announced, to which the IOC said that it is being prepared and will be made public soon.
State minister and Tamluk MLA Saumen Mahapatra visited the site and held talks with the high-ranking IOC officials who came from Delhi.
He demanded compensation for the affected workers, and complained that IOC was not geared for such an accident as their hospital did not even have a burns ward, and urged the officials to establish it.
“The family members of the three contractual workers who unfortunately lost their lives in yesterday’s incident have been contacted for extending all possible support in this hour of grief. The senior IOC management is continuously monitoring the situation, and we will provide all necessary assistance, relief and compensation to the affected workers. We are working on the compensation package and it may be announced soon. There were some protests by workers over safety concerns but maintenance job in other units is on stream,” an IOC spokesperson said.
A private hospital in Kolkata, in which 10 injured IOC workers are being treated, said that a medical board comprising plastic surgeons, pulmonologists and critical care consultants have been formed and a dedicated clinical and nursing team is round-the-clock monitoring the patients admitted in the burns ICU unit.
IOC had on Tuesday said in a statement that the primary cause of the incident at the motor spirit quality (MSQ) improvement unit of the Haldia Refinery seemed to be a flash fire.
The 47 injured people were given first aid and shifted to the Haldia Refinery Hospital, where three of them succumbed to their injuries, while the rest were brought to Kolkata through a green corridor.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condoled the deaths of the three workers and wished for the speedy recovery of those undergoing treatment.
