Damage spreads as IOC depot blaze continues

The devastating fire at Indian Oil Corp's fuel depot on the outskirts of Jaipur continued to rage on Friday night, with at least six dead so far and another six "missing", feared dead. Another 150 or more persons have been injured.

"The fire would take at least 36 hours more to die down, inspector-general of police B L Soni said, citing an IOC officials' report. The fire brigade and the army battled to check the spread of the inferno that has burnt about Rs150 crore worth of auto fuel.

Of the deceased, one body was identified as IOC employee Vijay Singh by his relatives, Soni said, adding that four bodies were yet to be identified.

The fire had by Friday night damaged properties of more than 30 industrial units in the Sitapura industrial area. These included listed companies like Autolite India Ltd and Genus Power infrastructures Ltd, whose plants are in the vicinity of the IOC depot.

Officials overseeing the development feel that flames are likely to cool down by Saturday morning.

Dense clouds of billowed out of eleven oil tanks. And when these clouds with high concentration of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide will finally settle down after in couple of days, they are set to cause more damage by spreading discomfort and breath related diseases. (See: IOC's Rajasthan depot still ablaze; at least 6 dead)

According to the district administration, there is no way to douse the fire but to wait till the fire dies down itself after consuming 50,000 kilo litres of fuel stored in the depot. "The fire can't be controlled through human intervention. The fire is massive. We are finding it a bit difficult to douse it. It has to die down on its own," said union petroleum minister Murli Deora, who rushed in to Jaipur to oversee the relief operations.