Tengakhat Oil facility fire: OIL to discuss compensation with families of deceased, injured employees

Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Bikram Kairi on November 7 said Oil India Limited (OIL) would discuss compensation with the families of the deceased and injured employees following the explosion and fire at its Intermediate Tank Farm (ITF) in Tengakhat.

He said OIL would contact the affected families and discuss the compensation amount before finalising the assistance. The compensation will be determined in accordance with the terms of the agreement between OIL and Spectron Engineers Private Limited, the Mumbai-based company whose employees were affected in the incident.

The death toll in Friday’s incident has risen to two after critically injured employee Tapas Gogoi (40), a resident of Milan Nagar in Dibrugarh, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital at around 3 am on November 7. The first fatality was identified as Raju Dutta.

Five other employees sustained injuries in the explosion and fire. They were identified as Sailen Gogoi (45), Kumud Gogoi (38), Golap Dutta (58), Indra Gogoi (40) and Tapas Gogoi.

The Deputy Commissioner also said that an Oil India technical expert team would examine the site to establish the cause of the explosion and determine whether it was accidental or involved any lapse in responsibility.

The fire broke out at the crude oil storage area of OIL’s facility on November 6. The blaze was brought under control on Saturday, while connections to the tanks were cut off as a precautionary measure.