What happened

A flash fire broke out around 7pm at Indian Oil's Mathura refinery during startup of the crude distillation unit following a month-long planned maintenance shutdown. Preliminary findings pointed to a malfunctioning non-return valve allowing hydrocarbons to mix with steam. Eight personnel suffered burn injuries, several critical enough to be airlifted to Delhi for treatment; the refinery's plant and machinery were undamaged and operations continued unaffected. This was an accidental industrial incident, not an attack.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.