A huge fire broke out at a biodiesel unit near the port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday night. There are no reports of casualties.
Around 40 fire engines were sent to control the blaze that started in the facilities of a company called Biomax in the Duvvada Special Economic Zone around 7:30 pm, police said. There were 18 tanks of fuel and raw materials at the facility, 12 of which caught fire.
A Navy aircraft on an aerial recce over the facility on Wednesday morning confirmed that eight tanks were still ablaze. (In Pictures)
Flames could be seen in some of them even on Wednesday morning. Firefighters said that all the fuel in the tanks will need to be burnt out before the blaze can be put out. According to eye witnesses, six oil tankers exploded due to the fire.
There were around 15 employees at the factory, all of whom managed to escape in time and are safe.
The cause of the fire is not yet known but it is believed to have resulted in a loss of around Rs. 120 crore. Each of the tanks that burnt out had a capacity of 3,000 litres and were filled between 30 to 70 per cent.
Human Resources Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao rushed to the scene to monitor the situation. Quick coordination among the firefighting agencies managed to save six of the tanks from the blaze, authorities said.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to top district civil, police officials and also with the naval authorities.
“We have sent eight fire extinguishers, will see what best we can do,” Ravindra, Indian Navy Commander, told news agency ANI.