A Balasore petrol pump explosion killed a 62-year-old man and injured two others after an old oil tanker caught fire and exploded at a fuel station in Nilagiri town of Odisha on Wednesday, according to police. The blast also damaged the entire filling station.
The incident took place at the Satya Sai Filling Station in Baligohiri, under Ward 7 of Nilagiri town in Balasore district. The tanker was reportedly being repaired when the fire broke out.
Nilagiri police station officer-in-charge Gobardhan Nayak said the 62-year-old man had been working on the tanker but had briefly moved away from the site. The explosion occurred as he was returning, and he was struck by debris from the blast.
The injured man and two other people were taken to Nilagiri Sub-Divisional Hospital. Doctors declared the 62-year-old dead after the group reached the hospital, while the two injured people were admitted for treatment, the report said.
Police said the explosion was powerful enough to damage the entire fuel station. The incident occurred at a petrol pump where an old oil tanker was undergoing repair, making the handling and servicing of residual fuel infrastructure a central part of the police inquiry.
The report did not provide details of the condition of the two injured people, the precise cause of the fire or whether the tanker had been emptied before repair work began. Police are investigating the incident.
