According to villagers, the fire broke out between 5.30am and 5.45am on the pipeline running through Nagaram. The gas leak seems to have been taking place for the last four days. Since the gas is odourless, its leakage was undetected until a tea stall owner, Vasu, lit a stove early morning to prepare tea for a family, barely 200 metres from the place where the gas leaked, leading to a blast followed by large balls of fire.
The blowout with flames reached 250 metres high leaving a trail of death and destruction with scores of birds and animals killed and hundreds of lush green coconut trees reduced to ashes. About a dozen houses were burnt. Most victims were from houses close to the blast site. Many vehicles were also burnt.
The Konaseema region is prone to such blowouts, mostly due to human negligence, and about a dozen such accidents have taken place since 1990 when oil and natural gas exploration picked up in the Krishna-Godavari basin. This one was the worst. A villager jumped into a well to save himself from the fire and was later rescued. Around 10 fire engines were deployed, said fire service DG N Sambasiva Rao.
The 200km gas pipeline, 18 inches in diameter, stretches from Thatipaka refinery that produces seven lakh cubic metres of natural gas per day. ONGC supplies the gas to GAIL, which in turn supplies it to Lanco Infratech Ltd, besides some thermal plants and fertilizer units. Friday's accident was the most deadly in the country's energy sector since August 2013, when 27 people were killed in a fire at Hindustan Petroleum refinery in Visakhapatnam.
The Union petroleum ministry ordered a high-level probe into the explosion. The Andhra Pradesh government too will conduct an inquiry and chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said he will take action if it was found that the blast had occurred due to official negligence. Villagers alleged negligence as the pipeline had rusted and authorities had failed to replace it. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, who visited the site with Naidu, said the inquiry will be headed by a joint secretary in the ministry.
A pall of gloom descended on Mamidikuduru mandal with people running in panic and wailing for help as huge flames engulfed the village. The government rushed senior officials to the spot to supervise immediate relief. Firefighting personnel from half a dozen fire stations fought to tame the flames by 8.45 am. The injured were rushed to hospitals in Amalapuram, Kakinada and Rajahmundry. Earlier, Naidu, who was in Delhi, cancelled his trip and rushed to the blast site. Heavy property loss was reported. The quantum of damage is being assessed.
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