DIBRUGARH — State-run energy explorer Oil India Limited suspended four staff members on Saturday after a massive blast and subsequent fire at its Tengakhat Intermediate Tank Farm claimed three lives.
Four careers halted in hours. OIL spokesperson Prankush Malla Buzarbaruah confirmed that the company cracked down on three officers and one employee for alleged "dereliction in discharging official duties" following the Friday blaze in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh district. The disciplinary crackdown unfolded rapidly as the disaster's human toll mounted across regional burn units.
Rupam Gohain, a Tengakhat local, succumbed to fatal burn trauma on Saturday at Nemcare Hospital in Guwahati. Medics had initially rushed him to the Oil India Hospital in Duliajan immediately after the November 6 explosion, but worsening trauma compelled authorities to airlift him west to Guwahati for specialized critical care. He died despite emergency interventions.
The blast had already claimed two other lives. Tapas Jyoti Gogoi, an engineer deployed at the facility by Spectron Engineering Pvt. Ltd., died of acute burn injuries at a private facility in Dibrugarh, alongside another worker who succumbed shortly after the fire erupted.
TO mitigate the fallout, Oil India announced an immediate financial relief package. The public sector undertaking will disburse ₹10 lakh to the families of each deceased worker, alongside ₹5 lakh each to those sustaining burn trauma and undergoing medical treatment.
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal arrived at Dibrugarh on Saturday to inspect the treatment wards of injured workers at a private hospital. Sonowal dialed OIL's Chairman and Managing Director, ordering the state-run explorer to spare no expense on intensive critical care for the survivors and to expedite family compensation payouts without administrative delays.
Sonowal directed authorities to institute an immediate high-level inquiry to pin down the precise technical failures that triggered the fatal Tengakhat explosion.