The Warri Refinery and Petrochemical
Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
was on Tuesday razed by fire.
It was gathered that the
fire, which gutted the topping unit of the 35-year-old refinery, started
about 11.00am, while crude oil refining process was on at the
125,000-barrel per day plant.
The entire Warri town and environs were
said to have been engulfed by the smoke bellowing from the inferno. The
fire was also said to have lasted for a few minutes before it was put
off by fire fighters and safety officials of the company.
The cause of the inferno could not be
immediately ascertained, but the Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta, a militant group, said it set the plant ablaze in
fulfilment of its earlier threat to hit oil installations.
The acting Group General Manager, Group
Public Affairs Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Ms.
Tumini Green, in a statement, confirmed that there was a fire outbreak
in the topping unit of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company.
She, however, said the fire was promptly
brought under control through the combined effort of the fire
department and other workers of the refinery.
Green explained that the fire, which started about 11am, was successfully extinguished without any fatality.
She said the unit involved was promptly
isolated and shut down for safety, adding that the exact cause of the
fire was being investigated by the management of the refinery.
According to her, appropriate steps will be taken to forestall a future occurrence.
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