Vishakhapatanam: A hydrocarbon vapour leak was reported at the Visakh Refinery of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) here on Wednesday. No casualty was reported and the leak was swiftly brought under control by the safety wing at the refinery.
The incident occurred during the equipment handover activity in the Merox unit. Scores of workers present at the time of the incident ran out of their workstations following the leak around 1.50 pm.
Refinery spokesman M. Kali said, “A small quantity of hydrocarbon vapour got released at the Merox unit. The leak was quickly plugged. There was no injury to anyone or damage to equipment.”
Vizag city inspector of factories Sudhakar said he visited the spot on Wednesday evening to examine the cause of the mishap. “It was a minor mishap. Hydrocarbon vapour got released from a two-inch drain valve. We will prepare a report and submit it to the government,” he said.
It was noted that three fire mishaps occurred in the industries in the core city from January last till date this year, which has 650 small to major industrial units including HPCL. No casualty was reported from these mishaps, except for property loss, he said.
The last mishap reported from HPCL was in May, 2020, when thick smoke emitted out from the chimney of the fluid catalytic cracking unit due to temperature fluctuations. The worst-ever fire mishap in the refinery was in September 1997, which killed 60 people and injuring dozens. Nearly 70,000 people from the areas around the unit had been evacuated.
