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Fire at Venezuela's Amuay refinery battled | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
The Venezuelan president has said that firefighters have extinguished the blaze at one of three burning oil tanks in the country's biggest refinery. | |
Hugo Chavez said the intensity of the blaze at one of the other tanks at the Amuay refinery had been reduced by 75%. | |
The tanks have been burning since an explosion at the refinery on Saturday which killed 48 people, injured dozens more and damaged 200 nearby homes. | |
It was among the most deadly oil industry accidents in recent years. | |
"Latest news... at this moment the fire at tank 200 in Amuay is extinguished," Mr Chavez said in a series of tweets. | |
"We continue battling with our heroic firefighters from [state oil company] PDVSA," he said, adding that he was talking by telephone with Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who was at the scene. | |
"With God's help, we will succeed!" | |
'Consequences' | |
On Monday, Mr Ramirez predicted that the 645,000 barrel-per-day facility would begin operations again on Friday, and that the fires would be put out within two days. | |
The country's opposition candidate in the forthcoming presidential election, Henrique Capriles, said government inefficiency under Mr Chavez was to blame for the accident. | |
"When things aren't done properly, with responsibility, then you have to prepare for the consequences," he said. | |
Venezuela has the world's biggest certified oil reserves. | Venezuela has the world's biggest certified oil reserves. |
Mr Capriles and other critics of Mr Chavez's government have said under investment by the state oil company has led to a decline in production and safety standards. | |
But Mr Chavez said there was no evidence the blast was the result of poor maintenance. Investigators have yet to determine the precise causes but government officials have said the blast occurred after a gas leak created a cloud that ignited. | |
Half of those who had died in the incident were members of the National Guard who had been protecting the refinery. | |
On Monday, Mr Chavez said he was creating a $23m (£14.5m; 18.4m euros) fund to help cover the costs of clean-up operations and replace damaged homes. A total of 31 people remain in hospital. |