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| Gas explosion rocks Venezuela's largest refinery | Gas explosion rocks Venezuela's largest refinery |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A large gas explosion has rocked Venezuela's biggest refinery, killing 19 people before dawn on Saturday. | A large gas explosion has rocked Venezuela's biggest refinery, killing 19 people before dawn on Saturday. |
| Stella Lugo, the governor of Falcón state, said more than 53 other people had been injured in the blast, and that a 10-year-old child was among the dead. | |
| "We are deploying our whole fire service team, all our health team, the whole contingency plan on the orders of [President Hugo] Chávez to first of all care for the people affected by this emergency," Lugo told Venezuelan state TV. | "We are deploying our whole fire service team, all our health team, the whole contingency plan on the orders of [President Hugo] Chávez to first of all care for the people affected by this emergency," Lugo told Venezuelan state TV. |
| Officials said the blast at the 645,000-barrels-per-day Amuay facility was caused by a gas leak and that it had also damaged nearby homes. | Officials said the blast at the 645,000-barrels-per-day Amuay facility was caused by a gas leak and that it had also damaged nearby homes. |
| Based in the west of Venezuela, Amuay is part of the Paraguaná refining centre, one of the biggest refinery complexes in the world. | |
| "A cloud of gas exploded," the energy minister, Rafael Ramirez, told state TV. "It was a significant explosion, there is appreciable damage to infrastructure and to houses opposite the refinery." | "A cloud of gas exploded," the energy minister, Rafael Ramirez, told state TV. "It was a significant explosion, there is appreciable damage to infrastructure and to houses opposite the refinery." |
| Emergency workers were at the scene, where smoke and flames could be seen over the facility. Both Ramirez and Lugo said the situation was under control several hours after the explosion at about 1am local time. | |
| "There's no risk of another explosion," Lugo said. | "There's no risk of another explosion," Lugo said. |
| Amuay is operated by state oil company PDVSA which has struggled with repeated refinery problems in recent years, affecting its production figures and ability to fulfil ambitious expansion plans. | Amuay is operated by state oil company PDVSA which has struggled with repeated refinery problems in recent years, affecting its production figures and ability to fulfil ambitious expansion plans. |
| Power faults, accidents and planned stoppages for maintenance have hit deliveries from South America's biggest oil exporter. | Power faults, accidents and planned stoppages for maintenance have hit deliveries from South America's biggest oil exporter. |
| Eddie Ramirez, national co-ordinator for Gente del Petróleo, an organisation of ex-employees of PDVSA, said: "These accidents have been happening more and more frequently in the last couple years because of a neglect in safety and maintenance standards. | |
| "Minister Ramirez dedicates his time to doing politics alongside the candidate, Hugo Chávez, instead of maintaining the level of infrastructure this kind of industry requires." | |
| Sisoes Moreno, a retired worker from PDVSA who lives close to the refinery said the explosions were so potent that people in surrounding towns thought it was an earthquake. He said the explosion completely destroyed a national guard base in front of the refinery. "It was totally burnt down. They are saying 25 people died but I cannot see how anyone that lived there could have survived," he said pointing to a possible death toll of more than 50. | |
| "The mechanisms for control were not working. A lot of the standard safety measures have been violated. A siren should go off at the first indication of a change in pressure to warn people. It didn't," Molero added. | |
| The energy minister said the Amuay refinery has the capacity to re-initiate operations in a maximum of two days and guaranteed the existence of sufficient resources to supply Venezuala's internal market following the explosion. |