Ex-footballer dies battling gas well flare-up in Assam

NEW DELHI: Durlov Gogoi, former goalkeeper of the Assam state football team and that of Oil India Limited (OIL) based in Duliajan—was among two firefighters who died while being engaged in efforts to contain the gas well blowout in Baghjan, in Assam’s Tinsukia district.

The bodies of Gogoi and fellow OIL firefighter Tikeshwar Gohain were fished out of a pond on Wednesday, a day after they jumped into the water body near the gas well to escape the engulfing fires and went missing. Two other firefighters had also jumped but escaped unscathed. The Baghjan well that has been leaking gas for a fortnight caught fire on Tuesday morning.

Jitu Chetry, team manager of the OIL football team, is also a firefighter engaged in the operations. “We are also part of the voluntary team and were supposed to be working there today. When we were receiving our basic training, Durlov and Gohain were assisting us,” he said.

He is a former goalkeeper with East Bengal and OIL and was Gogoi’s teammate in the state team and when the Duliajan team competed in the I-League 2nd Division till 2010.

Durga Boro, who played for Churchill Brothers and Shillong Lajong in the I-League and North-East United in the Indian Super League (ISL), was distraught by the death of his former OIL and Assam mate. “We had known each other since we were boys. I was with the Guwahati centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI) and he was in the Golaghat centre. We played and trained many times even before we played for OIL and Assam,” said Boro, secretary of the All Assam Football Players’ Association.

Gogoi is survived by his wife and nine-year-old son.