Fire breaks out at Assam refinery

A major fire broke out at Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in northeastern Indian state of Assam yesterday and insurgent outfit Ulfa claimed responsibility for triggering a blast which led to the blaze.
There was, however, no casualty in the incident.
A loud sound of explosion was heard from the hydrogen cracker plant area of the refinery in Golaghat district at around 6:35pm and a fire broke out which could be seen from a distance of 15 to 20 kms in the district.
In an email to Press Trust of India news agency, Ulfa's central publicity committee member Joy Asom claimed the outfit had carried out the blast with a 'Magnetic Time Device' on the occasion of its Raising Day today as part of its "continuous armed struggle".
Senior police officials, however, said it was "highly unlikely that it was an act of sabotage" as the fire broke out "in the middle of the plant area and was probably due to a technical fault though the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained".
Ulfa further claimed it had used the same devise earlier in two other refineries in Assam last year but these claims, too, were refuted by both police and refinery authorities with inquiries revealing that in both cases the fire was caused due to technical defects.
A senior NRL official told PTI that there was no casualty or injury as the plant was automated and there was minimum deployment of human resources in the area.