Eight injured as fire breaks out at Pemex’s oil refinery in Mexico

An explosion occurred at Pemex’s oil refinery in Mexico and left eight people injured, following which about 2,000 workers have been evacuated.

Fire broke out at the alkylation unit of the Antonio Dovalí Jaime refinery located in the city of Salina Cruz in the southern state of Oaxaca, sources said.

The 1,500-acre refinery has the capacity to process 330,000 barrels of crude oil a day and supplies fuel for the domestic market.

The explosion reportedly released a thick black plume of smoke which rose up into the sky from the refinery.

Pemex said that the company could control the fire by its own firefighting units and all other parts of the refinery were working well.

The company is also carrying out investigation to determine the cause of the explosion.

In February 2013, a deadly explosion that occurred at Pemex headquarters in Mexico had reportedly claimed the lives of 25 people and injured more than 100 people.

Another 26 people died when a fire erupted at the company’s natural gas pipeline distribution centre in September 2012 near Mexico’s border with the US.

The fire killed maintenance workers and forced evacuations of people in nearby ranches and homes.