State honours for two firefighters killed in Assam gas well tragedy

The last rites of the two firefighters who were killed in Oil India Ltd (OIL)'s Baghjan gas well incident will be held with full state honours. The announcement was made by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The Baghjan well has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 15 days in Tinsukia district. The two firefighters had gone missing after the well caught fire and their bodies were recovered this morning.

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday announced that the last rites of the two firefighters killed in the Baghjan gas well incident will be held with full state honours.

Condoling the deaths, Sonowal said they made supreme sacrifice for the greater interest of the society.

"The Chief Minister has directed for completing the last rites of both the deceased in the incident with full state honors," an official statement said.

Oil India Ltd (OIL) on Wednesday said two of its firefighters died at the site of the major blaze at its Baghjan well, which has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 15 days in Tinsukia district.

The two firefighters had gone missing after the well caught fire on Tuesday and their bodies were recovered by an NDRF team this morning.

The duo has been identified as Durlov Gogoi and Tikheswar Gohain, both assistant operators of the fire service department of the company.

Gogoi was a renowned football player of Assam and represented the state at several national tournaments in Under-19 and Under-21 teams. He was also the goalkeeper of the Oil India football team.

The chief minister urged Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to offer employment to one member each of the two families, apart from providing adequate compensation.

Sonowal said that both the Centre and the state government have been taking all necessary steps to ensure safety of the people in the area along with providing adequate compensation to those affected.

PTI