The crude distillation unit of the Visakha refinery of the Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) suffered a major fire on Thursday night, causing a widespread panic in the residential areas in the vicinity.

A press release said the fire broke out at around 11 p. m. at the Crude Oil Distillary Unit 3 (CDU3), and could be brought under control only by 4.40 a. m. on Friday.

People in the vicinity spent a sleepless night as the incident reminded them of the major fire that took place in 1997 in the refinery, claiming more than 50 lives.

Sources said the fire was triggered by a spark caused by a short circuit.

HPCL claimed that all of its emergency protection systems worked perfectly and helped in controlling the fire.

It said in a press release, "All emergency protection systems worked in accordance with the design and helped in curbing the fire. The fire-figthing personnel of the refinery reached the site within half-an-hour."

The corporation also assured that the fire caused no casualties and no one got injured in the incident.

HPCL shares were trading down 0.90 per cent at Rs 314.30 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange in early trade today.