.jpg )
At least three persons died and 44 others were injured, seven of them seriously, in a massive fire at a government-owned refinery in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal on Tuesday.
The fire broke out at Haldia Refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Bengal's Purba Medinipur district late afternoon. It took several fire tenders over two hours to contain the blaze.
"The primary cause seems to be a flash fire leading to burn injuries to 44 persons and three persons have unfortunately succumbed to their injuries," the IOC said in a statement.
A senior police officer told the local media that the fire broke out during a drill of the shutdown process of the refinery.
READ: Fire at Rangpur Medical College & Hospital under control; 5 hurt
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to condole the deaths and assured family members of the other victims of best available treatment to the injured at hospitals in state capital Kolkata.
“Three precious lives were lost and my thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. Those injured are being brought to Kolkata through a green corridor. GoWB will extend all assistance to ensure their speedy recovery,” she tweeted.
READ: Footwear factory in Old Dhaka catches fire
A probe has been ordered into the fire, the police official said.
Haldia Refinery was commissioned in January 1975. It's situated some 140 kms from Kolkata.
Spread across 500 acres, it is the only coastal refinery of the IOC and the lone lube flagship amongst Indian Oil refineries, apart from being the sole producer of jute batching oil.