Fire at ONGC Platform at Bombay High

A fire broke out last afternoon, (27th july 2005) about 160 km off the Mumbai coast at ONGC Platform killing at least eight people. According to the latest report - the Coast Guard has said that the major fire on an ONGC platform at Bombay High has been put off.

Several workers are still missing, while nearly 350 have been rescued. The rescued workers are being brought to Bombay Port Trust where ONGC Chairman Subir Raha will receive them.

The cause of the fire is not known. The ONGC oil-drilling platform has been completely destroyed, and is expected to take nearly four months to repair, at a cost of Rs 10,000-15,000 crore.

Bombay High produces 38 per cent of India's domestic oil output. Following the fire, the daily production is likely to come down by 80,000 barrels, or nearly one third of the total production. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to go to Mumbai today.

Six Navy and two Coast Guard ships are helping the rescue and evacuation operations, which are still on as the choppy waters last night prevented the rescue teams from being able to cover a large area of the platform.