Fifteen labourers were injured in a blast in a petroleum tank at an oil mill factory in Hisar in the early hours of Sunday. The condition of four persons is critical, the police said.
According to the police, the blast happened at Ashish Oil Mill in Uklana block of the district around 3 a.m., injuring the labourers around it. Labourers from two different shifts were present in the factory at the time of the blast, which happened during a shift change.
Shut for 2 months
“The injured were taken to separate hospitals in Hisar. Seven fire tenders from neighbouring areas reached the spot and took around four hours to douse the flames,” said Station House Officer, Uklana Police Station, Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar.
Mr. Kumar said four of the injured persons were said to be critical and had been moved to PGIMS, Rohtak, in the evening.
Local sources said the oil mill had been shut for around two months for repair work and had been reopened on Saturday. It is suspected that the safety valve of the one of the tanks malfunctioned, leading to the blast. The factory has 13 such tanks.
The police, however, maintained that the exact cause of the blast was not immediately known and that it was a matter of investigation.
Case against manager
Mr. Kumar said a case has been registered against the factory’s manager in this connection. “A case has been registered based on the statement of one of the injured labourers. The Forensic Science Laboratory team also visited the spot,” said Mr. Kumar.
