India – Two Pipeline Incidents Cause Multiple Casualties

Two workers were killed and three others were injured in an incident at a Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) LPG pipeline in Nalgonda, about 140 km from Hyderabad, on April 4.The incident occurred on the Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam LPG pipeline, and follows an explosion at a GAIL pipeline in Andhra Pradesh which killed 15 in June 2014.

According to a GAIL spokesperson, the incident occurred during repair and maintenance work. An employee of the company, along with a contract worker, died due to mechanical impact during a pipeline pigging and cleaning operation. According to local police, the two were killed when the pipe burst open under high pressure, projecting them into a wall.

Meanwhile, an explosion and fire at the Sabero Organics plant in Sarigam, Gujarat, injured 11 workers on April 5. According to local sources, six of the injured are in hospital being treated for burns of up to 33%.
 
According to information from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), the incident happened during maintenance on a leaking phosphorous pentachloride pipeline.

Sabero Organics is part of the Coromandel group. The plant produces pesticides and insecticides.

The GPCB said it was mounting an inquiry into the causes of the fire.