VISAKHAPATNAM — A fire broke out at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited's Visakhapatnam refinery in Malkapuram on Monday night, November 2, and was brought under control without any casualties or injuries, officials and the company said.
The fire was reported around 10pm and involved sulfur pitch, a waste product generated in the refinery's sulfur unit. It was confined to a pitch intermediate storage tank, HPCL said in a post on X.
"The fire was localised to the pitch tank area and was brought under control within a short time. There have been no casualties," the company said, adding that all refinery units were functioning safely.
Malkapuram Circle Inspector E Narasimha Rao confirmed there were no casualties or injuries. Revenue Divisional Officer Dileep Chakravarthy, who visited the site, said the fire had been completely extinguished using firefighting equipment installed at the refinery and resources deployed by the Andhra Pradesh Fire Department.
A small blast was reported at the facility before the fire broke out, Rao said. An enquiry would be initiated to examine industrial safety at the facility in accordance with applicable norms, he added.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing large flames rising from the refinery. People moved away from the area after seeing the blaze, though officials said there was no cause for worry.
HPCL said its own fire tenders were deployed to tackle the blaze and no external assistance was required. The refinery's operations were unaffected after the incident.
