Another Massive Explosion at an IOCL Refinery; This Time it’s in Mathura

A significant explosion and subsequent fire erupted at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s (IOCL) refinery in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday evening. The incident occurred at the 8 MTPA refinery around 7.30 pm during its shutdown and resulted in at least eight individuals sustaining burn injuries. Three of them are reported to be in critical condition.

The blast occurred during the restart of the Atmospheric Vacuum Unit’s (AVU) crude distillation unit, which had been undergoing maintenance since a month. Eyewitnesses claim that the intensity of the explosion was such that it was audible from several kilometers away.

Of the eight injured workers, two workers suffered 50% burns, two sustained 40% burns, and the remaining four incurred 20% burns. Initially the injured were being treated at the refinery's hospital, but the four critically injured workers were later transferred to Apollo Hospital in Delhi for advanced medical care.

Despite the incident, IOCL confirmed that the refinery's overall operations continued without disruption. The fire was successfully extinguished, and the company has initiated an investigation to determine the exact cause of the explosion.

Renu Pathak, public relations officer at Mathura Refinery told the local media, "The refinery's management has initiated an investigation to determine the cause of the explosion." She assured that the fire had been completely extinguished and the situation was stable.

This is the second blast and fire incident at IOCL’s refinery within a span of 4 days. The first incident happened on November 11 at their Koyali refinery near Vadodara, Gujarat that claimed lives of 2 workers and injured one IOCL official.

This is a developing story; we will update this space as and when more information gets available.