BBC News Online: Despatches

Huge fire at Indian oil refinary

The spokesman of the Digboi oil refinary said that a massive fire broke out at the wax plant in the refinary. He said that the fire spread to other parts of the refinary within minutes.

More than 25 fire engines from the military and the civilian organisations fought to bring the fire under control for more than ten hours through the early hours of the morning. The spokesman said the that fire has now been controlled, but the refinary has been shut down as a precautionary measure.

He said that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained and would need a high-level inquiry. Accidents in the oil installations in Assam have been rare, but in recent months, rebels fighting for the state's independence from India have set up explosions in the oil pipe lines in the state on two occasions since November last year.

But the rebels claimed responsibility for those explosions. Digboi is Assam's oldest refinary and dates back to the days when the British first discovered oil in Assam earlier in the century.

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