Emergency at Atyrau oil refinery

Atyrau, September 24, 2009 (Khabar) - A blast and then fire has happened here. Four people suffered and three of them were hospitalized. Later, one of the victims died from injuries in hospital. The accident happened in the afternoon at one of the so-called "traps" where leavings of petroleum products are selected from water. The explosion has occurred for some unknown reason and it hit concrete walls, after which the oil caught fire. A pillar of black smoke rose by nearly one km altitude. Wind has taken it to the city quarters. 18 firefighting units have extinguished burning oil on the area of more than a hundred square meters. The fire was extinguished in two hours. The investigation of the accident has begun according to two versions - the human factor and the unauthorized release of gas.


Kairat Urazbayev, chief engineer of the Atyrau refinery:
- The plant did not stop. Some plants that were being repaired, they are still being renovated. The other plants continue possessing crude oil. Everything is loaded and there are no problems about the factory. The problem is that people suffered.