Two Missing Firefighters found dead near Assam Oil Well

TIL Desk/National/Assam/ Two firefighters have died in the massive fire that broke out at the gas well of Oil India at Baghjan in Tinsukia district of Assam, the company spokesperson said on Wednesday. The two firefighters had gone missing after the well caught fire on Tuesday and their bodies were recovered by an NDRF team Wednesday morning, Oil India Spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika said.

“Their bodies were recovered from a wetland near the site. Prima facie it looks that they jumped in the water and got drowned as there is no mark of burn injury. The exact cause will be ascertained only after a post mortem,” he said. The duo has been identified as Durlov Gogoi and Tikeswar Gohain, both assistant operators of the fire service department of the company, the official said.

An oil well, which first burst on May 27 in Assam, and continued to leak oil and gas, caught fire on June 9 and it would be at least four more weeks till authorities can control the fire. Experts from Singapore and various other engineers were at work when the well operated by state-owned Oil India Limited (OIL) exploded into flames.