A devastating fire at a Haldia Petrochemicals petrochemical facility in eastern India has left at least 20 people injured, with five suffering life-threatening critical wounds, local law enforcement confirmed. The emergency incident unfolded on Tuesday, when the blaze ignited along a naphtha transit pipeline at the plant, located in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. The site sits roughly 130 kilometers southwest of the state capital, Kolkata, and the fast-spreading flames quickly extended beyond plant boundaries to threaten adjacent residential areas.
In response to the emergency, more than a dozen fire engines were deployed to the scene to battle the intense blaze. Footage captured at the site shows emergency crews blasting large volumes of water onto the burning pipeline, while plumes of thick black toxic smoke billowed hundreds of meters into the sky over the district. First responders completed search and rescue operations successfully, evacuating all injured parties to regional medical centers for urgent treatment. Among the hurt are hourly plant workers and at least two on-site security officers, per police updates.
Naphtha, the fuel product that was moving through the pipeline when the fire started, is an extremely flammable petroleum-derived product. It is most commonly used as a feedstock for manufacturing gasoline and a wide range of industrial chemical products, a factor that amplified the risk of the fire spreading rapidly. As of initial press updates, the root cause of the pipeline fire remains undetermined. Haldia Petrochemicals, the private firm that owns and operates the facility, released an official statement confirming that the company has launched an internal investigation into the incident to identify what triggered the blaze.