Kolkata: At least 13 persons were injured after a major fire broke out at the naphtha cracker unit in Haldia Petrochemicals on Friday morning. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to know about the incident at Delhi and immediately called up state Transport minister and Nandigram MLA Suvendu Adhikari, instructing him to go to the spot. According to sources, on Friday at around 11:30 am, fire broke out at the naphtha cracker unit in Haldia Petrochemicals. Within minutes, the fire took a devastating shape and the whole unit was ablaze. As the materials in the naphtha cracker unit were highly inflammable, fire started spreading. Several labourers were working in the unit during the mishap and 13 of them were injured due to the fire. The injured labourers were rescued and taken to a local hospital, where they have been provided with first aid. Later, all 13 were sent to Kolkata for further treatment. Adhikari informed that out of the 13 injured labourers, 7 are contractual while the other 6 are permanent employees of Haldia Petrochemicals. Five of the labourers are critically injured. "The injured persons have been sent to Kolkata for better treatment. Police escort was arranged and a green corridor was initiated," said Adhikari. Meanwhile, 10 fire tenders were pressed into action. However, firefighters faced a tough time while dousing the fire. Due to the highly inflammable materials stored at the unit, the fire refused to go out. In the afternoon, the fire brigade headquarter in Kolkata was requested for advanced fire tenders equipped with foam spraying facility. Later, two advanced fire tenders with sufficient quantity of foam were sent to Haldia. State Fire minister Sujit Bose said on Friday evening: "There was a leakage in the pipeline from where the fire broke out. It has been brought under control now." Sources claimed that the leakage was detected in the hydrocarbon pipeline. Adhikari also informed that necessary investigation will be done to ascertain the cause of fire and if any flaw is found, proper legal action will follow. After the incident, relatives of the injured persons as well as the other employees got panic stricken and gathered at the gate of Haldia Petrochemicals. In the evening, Superintendent of Police, East Midnapore, V Solomon Nesakumar said: "Fire is under control now. Few of the injured persons are critical. No one is trapped there." Meanwhile, Adhikari further informed that fact finding regarding the incident will be done on Saturday. Fire brigade officials will visit the spot and if necessary, an FIR will be lodged. According to Haldia Petrochemicals authorities, an emergency board meeting was called on Friday evening and it has been decided that the management will take appropriate action for the welfare of the injured labourers and provide support to their families. The authorities also thanked the state government for their assistance.

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