Tengakhat fire: Oil India raises ex-gratia to Rs 25 lakh per family

Oil India Limited (OIL) on Wednesday raised the financial assistance it will give to the families of workers killed in the explosion and fire at its Intermediate Tank Farm (ITF) in Tengakhat, Dibrugarh district, to Rs 25 lakh per family.

The company had earlier announced Rs 10 lakh for the next of kin of each worker who died and Rs 5 lakh for each injured person. The higher amount was announced after the death toll climbed to six, The Sentinel and Pratidin Time reported.

Toll rose to six on Tuesday

The explosion took place at around 9.05 am on Friday, November 6, at the facility near Duliajan. The fire started in the indirect bath heater area, which had been shut for maintenance since November 4.

The workers at the site were employed by Spectron Engineers Private Limited, a Mumbai-based contractor engaged by OIL.

Raju Dutta, the first victim, died at the site. Other injured workers died over the following days. On Tuesday, 38-year-old Kumud Gogoi of Dighaliya village in Tengakhat died of his injuries, and later that day 58-year-old Golap Dutta died at a private hospital in Dibrugarh, taking the toll to six.

Another injured worker, Indra Gogoi, who was airlifted to Delhi on November 9, is still being treated at Apollo Hospital, according to the reports.

Officers suspended, inquiry under way

Fire and emergency teams brought the blaze under control by about 12.30 pm on the day of the incident.

OIL has suspended four personnel who were in charge of the site and set up an internal inquiry committee to look into the immediate and underlying causes of the fire.

The company has not yet said whether the revised assistance also covers the injured workers, or how it will be paid.

Safety questions

The accident has raised questions about safety during maintenance work at oilfield facilities, especially for contract workers.

Dibrugarh and neighbouring Tinsukia are the heart of Assam's oil belt, where OIL runs a large network of wells, tank farms and pipelines around its Duliajan headquarters.

NEInsider will update this story when the inquiry committee's findings are made public.