September 11, 2010, Pata, UP:-A fire that broke out today during a routine maintenance operation at GAIL’s petrochemical plant at Pata was soon brought under control. The fire broke out in the Crude Hexane Reboiler of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Plant Unit - I at petrochemical complex at Pata, District Auraiya (U.P.) around 3:20 p.m. today.  Only minimum men and material were at the site of the incident as it was a holiday today.

While the fire was brought under control within an hour of occurrence of the incident, unfortunately one engineer succumbed to the injuries and two persons sustained minor burn injuries. The injured have been sent to Kanpur for treatment after first aid was provided to them at Pata

The Crude Hexane Reboiler unit was being readied for shut down so as to carry out routine maintenance of the unit. The exact reason for the fire is being ascertained.

The HDPE Plant Unit – I has been taken on shut down. Rest of the plants is running on normal condition.