16 killed in gas pipeline explosion in India
Print Edition
AT least 16 people were killed and scores of homes were gutted yesterday due to a massive explosion in a state-owned gas pipeline running through the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, a state minister said.
“At least 16 people are dead. We have recovered 13 bodies so far,” state home minister N. Chinna Rajappa told reporters after the blast near a refinery in the East Godavari district.
Television pictures showed flames at least 10 meters high leaping into the dawn sky, scorching trees in a surrounding coconut grove and burning flimsy huts in the coastal area.
The fire on the 45-centimeter pipeline owned by the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) was extinguished by mid-morning and the gas had been cut off, a senior administrative officer said from the scene.
At least 15 people were taken to hospital with injuries from the blast, which occurred about 5:30am, the company said.
Its exact cause is unknown.
“We are currently focused on rescue and relief operations,” GAIL chairman BC Tripathi was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.
GAIL is the country’s largest state-owned natural gas processing company and the damaged pipeline is used to transport pressurised natural gas for a power plant.
Witnesses said angry locals entered an office belonging to GAIL near the site of the accident, pelting it with stones and vandalizing property.
The Times of India newspaper said villagers had complained of negligence as the pipeline had become rusty, while other reports said a stove in the area might have ignited gas that had leaked from the structure.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had asked the petroleum minister and other senior officers to ensure immediate relief at the accident site.
“My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives,” he tweeted.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who rushed to the site of explosion, said an investigation has begun.
“Our priority is to take care of the rescue, relief and restoration efforts there and to see that the fire does not flare up,” he said.
The Andhra Pradesh government has ordered an inquiry, state Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said.
Earlier this month, six people were killed by a poisonous gas leak at one of India’s largest government-owned steel plants in central Chhattisgarh state.
But yesterday’s was the worst to hit India’s energy sector since August, when 28 people were killed in a fire at an oil refinery in nearby Vishakhapatnam.
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