Two firefighters of Oil India Ltd, who had been missing since a massive fire broke out at its gas well at Baghjan in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday, were found dead from a pond near the site.

A massive fire engulfed the damaged Baghjan oil well on Tuesday which has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 14 days.

Immediately after the news of the fire broke out, three experts from a Singapore-based emergency management firm and firefighters were rushed to the spot.

Meanwhile, fire flames continue to erupt from the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan. A team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and fire engines are present at the spot trying to douse the fire and carry out search operations.

Assam Chief Minister Sarabananda Sonowal had earlier on Tuesday spoken to Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the phone regarding the incident.

Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Centre and Oil India Ltd (OIL) are committed to the safety and well-being of people of the state.

Taking to Twitter, the minister said that he spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and has assured him of the centre’s commitment.

“@dpradhanbjp assured CM Assam @sarbanandsonwal that MoPNG and @OilIndiaLimited are committed for the safety and well-being of people of Assam,” he said in a tweet.

The gas leak in Assam’s Tinsukia district started on May 27 at a well site of Oil India Ltd, post which efforts have been made to plug the leakage which did not result in much success.

In another tweet, Pradhan also said that a team of Oil India Ltd led by its CMD have been at the site from day one of the leakage to control the situation. Further, crisis management team of ONGC is also on the ground to further emergency response, he said.

The state government, on the other hand, has also sought the Indian Air Force’s help to douse the blaze. Chief Minister Sonowal talked to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seeking help from the IAF.

Besides NDRF, para-military, state security forces, district administration, ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), OIL and other stakeholders are jointly working to deal with the emergent situation.

A major blowout happened at the oil well, next to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, following which gas started flowing out uncontrollably. The district administration had evacuated thousands of people living nearby due to spouting of natural gas and condensate droplets.

As many as 700 families, comprising 3,500 people, had earlier been shifted to three relief camps after the leakage began.

Oil India has said that experts working to put out the fire and blowout at its Baghjan facility in Assam are confident that the gas well can be capped safely, but it may take as long as four weeks to control the situation, PTI has reported.

Meanwhile, over 45 environmentalists, academics, wildlife experts, writers, social activists and journalists have expressed concern over the environmental consequences of the blowout near the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, a biodiversity hotspot.