After leaks for days, massive fire at Oil India's gas well in Assam

A massive fire broke out on Tuesday at a gas well of Oil India Limited in Assam's Tinsukia district where gas has been flowing out for nearly two weeks.

A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is present at the spot to take stock of the situation. Emergency teams from Indian Oil and firefighters have also reached the spot to control the fire.  

People living in nearby villages are said to be in a panic due to the fire. Since the leak started late last month, nearly 2,500 people from 650 families have been shifted to three relief camps.

The gas well at Baghjan has been leaking for 13 days and a team of experts from Singapore had reached on Monday to inspect the situation. 

#WATCH Massive fire at the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, Assam. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is present at the spot pic.twitter.com/Tw2G92aPXy

— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2020

The OIL had said on Monday that the experts from Singapore's 'Alert Disaster Control' reached Baghjan well site in the Monday afternoon.

"The experts from Alert complimented OIL for all the preparatory works carried out so far and mentioned that based on their wide experience of handling over a thousand blowouts in around 135 countries all over the world under different conditions, they are confident of controlling the well at the earliest with necessary support from OIL," the public sector company had said in a press release.

"They emphasised that safety of the local people in the area and the technical team working at the well site will be their prime concern while carrying out the operations," the OIL had said.

While there has been no loss of human life, environmentalists and wildlife experts have expressed concern over the environmental consequences of the blowout due to its proximity to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.