The blaze erupted at about noon when a Cold Separator in the refinery’s Coker Hydrotreater Unit ruptured under high pressure, sending flames into the adjoining tanks.
The fire forced the isolation of the unit’s battery limits and prompted rapid response from fire tenders dispatched from Mangaluru, Pandeshwar and nearby areas.
Victim Manish Karkera, a 30‑year‑old resident of Muly, was found charred amid the wreckage; eight injured workers, one of them critical, were air‑lifted to hospitals for treatment.
MRPL’s chief general manager Rudolph V. Noronha said the fire was extinguished after over two hours of firefighting, and the company will continue to monitor the site closely.
Police have opened an inquiry to determine the cause of the rupture, citing a formal probe into the incident while the refinery remains under tight security.