VENEZUELA OIL REFINERY EXPLOSION
(Venezuela
oil refinery explosion kills 19, injures dozens)
AN
EXPLOSION ROCKED the Amuay refinery in Venezuela early on 25th
August,2012, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens, an official said.A
ball of fire rose over the refinery in video posted online by people who were
nearby at the time.Falcon state governor Stella Lugo gave the initial death
toll of seven on state television.“The areas that had to be evacuated were
evacuated,” Lugo said, according to the state-run Venezuelan News Agency. “The
situation is controlled. Of course there’s still a fire rising very high, but …
the specialists tell me there is no risk of another explosion.”He later said
that the death toll had risen to 19 and that the victims include a 10-year-old
boy. At least 53 people are injured.
Firefighters and National Guard troops were securing the area at the refinery
on the Paraguana Peninsula in western Venezuela, Lugo said.The blast occurred
after 1am when a gas leak created a cloud that ignited, Oil Minister Rafael
Ramirez said. Some nearby houses were damaged by the blast, he said.“That gas
generated a cloud that later exploded and has caused fires in at least two
tanks of the refinery and surrounding areas,” Ramirez said on state television.
“The blast wave was of a significant magnitude.”Ramirez said oil workers will
determine what caused the gas leak and were inspecting the damage along with
troops. He said supplies of fuel had been cut off to the part of the refinery
that was still in flames.Vice President Elias Jaua said on his Twitter account
that the military was deployed to the area and that air ambulances were
dispatched to ferry the wounded. The defense minister was traveling to the
refinery along with Ramirez and other officials, Jaua said.The Amuay refinery
and the adjacent Cardon refinery together process about 900,000 barrels of
crude a day and 200,000 barrels of gasoline. It was unclear to what extent the
explosion might affect oil shipments from Venezuela, a member of the
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Prof. John Kurakar
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