The four were taken to the nearby Deepak Foundation Hospital before being shifted to the SSG Hospital in the city, even as fire tenders from the city, the GSFC, the IPCL and the GIDC spent more than a couple of hours dousing the flames. The fire destroyed a tanker parked alongside as well.

The injured told Express Newsline at the SSG Hospital that a factory man had told them to open the valve of the tanker to drain any water that may have been inside. But when one of them tried to open it, while the others watched, the oozing gas came in contact with a kerosene stove burning some 20 feet away and burst into fire, Dhananjay Madan Verma, whose condition is improving, said.

The tanker containing mixed oil had come from IPCL, Nagothane, while the tanker belonged to Niki Roadlines. ``It was the factory man's fault because he told us to check the tanker outside the factory premises, while all tankers are usually unloaded inside,'' Verma said.

At the factory, Jatin Shah, managing director of Amiyodaya Petrochem Products, told Express Newsline he was not aware exactly how the fire took place. But he claimed that his men had complained that that the tanker-driver ``was overwise and tried to open the valve and that the gas that came out came in contact with the stove which was burning''.

When told that an injured person had said something contrary, Shah said, ``none of my men would do such a thing.'' At that time, all the four people working in his small unit had gone out for their lunch. He confirmed the tanker carried mixed oil, which is ``a mix of crude and hydrocarbons''.

The other injured have been identified as Bhakteshwar Surajprasad Pandey, 40, Shivbrahma Vishwanath Yadav,35, and Santosh Tirathnath Pal, 19.