A drilling rig of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district was damaged in a fire Thursday but there were no reports of injuries even as hundreds of families were evacuated in view of the massive flames.

"The incident happened due to high-pressure gas leading to the drilling rig, worth about Rs.120 million getting damaged. Though still flaring, the fire has been brought under control," an ONGC spokesperson told here.

The fire occurred during drilling activity in the Krishna-Godavari Basin on-land block at Amalapuram, about 70 km from Rajahmundhry. It destroyed equipment and six vehicles parked near the rig.

"No one has been injured and the fire is under control. We are monitoring the situation," the spokesperson said.

An ONGC statement in New Delhi said: "At about 11.30 am, there was a blow out in exploratory well PSAR at Pasarlapudi near Amalapuram, Rajahmundry. The rig crew has been evacuated and there is no casualty."

"ONGC's Crisis Management Team based in Narsapur is well trained and equipped to handle such situations and has already been mobilised at the site," the statement added.

Reports from Hyderabad, quoting local officials, said the fire in rig number 1,400 at Tandvapalli, 20 km from Amlapuram in East Godavari district, broke out around 11.30 am.

The leaping flames rising 160 to 170 meters spread panic among surrounding villages.

About 4,000 families were evacuated to safer places. The district collector and other senior officials have rushed to the village to launch rescue and relief operations.

"It is not a very significant fire and has already been brought under control," D.A. Somayajulu, economic affairs and policy implementation advisor to Andhra Pradesh government, told on telephone from Hyderabad.

When his attention was drawn to the Bombay High fire in July that killed at least 10 people, the official said there was no comparison between the two incidents.

"We are monitoring the situation through the district superintendent of police," he added.

Eyewitnesses said the deafening blasts from the blowout could be heard as far as 20 km from the scene. The region is rich in oil and gas reserves and the ONGC had recently struck gas reserves in the Krishna-Godavari basin.

ONGC officials from surrounding districts of West Godavari and Visakhapatnam and officials and experts from the region have rushed to the scene to control the fire.

The blowout is said to be worse than the one at Pasrlapudi rig in the same district about a decade ago. That fire lasted 20 days and foreign experts had to be called to control it.