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Gas well ablaze at Bombay high

A major fire broke out this afternoon at a offshore gas well of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in the Arabian sea, about 160 off the northwest of Bombay.

Three multi-support vessels, Samudra Sevak, Stenna I and Stenna II, equipped with fire-fighting capabilities have moved in and are spraying water on the unmanned well 121-D connected to B-121 platform from spreading, an ONGC spokesperson said. The well produces about 2000 cubic metres of gas per day.

Cudd Well Control Company, an international company specialising in well control and fire control, has been contacted and two experts from the company were being flown to assist the fire-fighting operation and cap the well. They are expected to arrive tomorrow, the spokesperson said.

All the 85 crew members on the rig, the Sagar Ratna, have been evacuated.

A control room has been set up at the ONGC regional business centre in Bandra in northwest Bombay to monitor the situation.

Senior ONGC executives, led by A S Soni, director (operations) and V K Sharma, executive director, have gone over for an on-the-spot inspection, the spokesperson said.

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