June 30 (Reuters) – A fire near an unauthorised naphtha theft point near India’s Haldia refinery has injured several people, Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd, which owns the refinery said on Tuesday.
Earlier, local media had reported a massive fire in the refinery, located in India’s eastern state of West Bengal in the early hours of Tuesday, with visuals showing smoke and fire billowing out of the area.
• “Preliminary information suggests that the incident may have occurred in the vicinity of an unauthorised naphtha theft point located in the plant vicinity,” Haldia Petrochemicals said in a statement.
• The statement did not specify if the fire has affected operations at the refinery.
• “We are aware of an incident that occurred at our Haldia facility, in which a few people have reportedly sustained injuries,” the statement said.
• HPL said the exact cause of the incident is under investigation and said it had cautioned local communities against unauthorised access to petroleum products.
• Several of the injured had been moved to hospitals, local media said.
(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
