Fire is still raging at the ONGC gas well near Olpad town in the district, even 24 hours after the blow-out mishap, and a crisis management team was rushed to the spot from Delhi on Sunday, a senior official said. “Fire is still on but it is under control in a way that it has been contained in a particular area so that it does not cause damage to any property nearby,”
ONGC spokesperson Samrat Choudhary said. He said the blaze was being contained and firemen are taking necessary measures to put it out completely. “Fire is being contained and kept to cool by our firemen who are continuously spraying water on it. The fire is being allowed to burn out so that it may not spread to other area and the gas in the well will be exhausted," Choudhary said.
The crisis management team also visited the injured persons. ONGC has called the globally renowned oil and gas blow out control experts Boots&Coots from US to contain fire.
Of the injured, three were discharged after first aid. Out of nine admitted at the WellCare Hospital Surat, four are ONGC employees and rest five are from the crew of contracted rig which caught fire. While two patients are likely to be discharged soon, the condition of others is reported to be critical but stable, ONGC said.
The incident occurred on Saturday when a blow-out preventer was being repaired at the well in OlPAD-31 in Ankleshwar basin. When the ONGC team was working on the well to stop the leakage, some sort of spark resulted in a huge blast and the gas coming out of the well caught fire.