OIL pipeline blast kills 1 at Duliajan in Dibrugarh district

A Correspondent

Dibrugarh: A contractual worker of Oil India Limited (OIL) was killed and four others injured in a pipeline blast at an Oil Collecting Station (OCS) of Oil India Limited at Duliajan in Dibrugarh district on Wednesday.  The deceased, identified as contractual worker Robin Orang, died while being rushed to the hospital. Among the four injured, one is a contractual employee while the rest are OIL employees.

OIL spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika said that the explosion occurred during repair work on a pipeline at an Oil Collecting Station in Duliajan which is the field headquarters of OIL. He said that the blast was a result of a mechanical fault during the repair of a new pipeline valve.

“The incident took place due to a mechanical fault when the valve of a new pipeline was being repaired. There was a sudden blast when repairing work was underway. We are probing the reason behind it,” Hazarika said.

In the aftermath of the incident, two of the injured were shifted to the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh for advanced medical care, while the remaining two continued to receive treatment at the OIL Hospital in Duliajan. The OIL authorities have initiated an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion.

The incident echoes a previous disaster at an OIL gas well in Baghjan, adjacent to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in May 2020 where uncontrolled gas leakage led to a fire claiming three lives. A joint effort by multiple agencies finally extinguished the blaze on November 15, and the well was abandoned on December 3.

Also Read: Oil India Limited (OIL) pipeline catches fire in Dibrugarh

Also watch: