Firefighters battle flames at Suez oil refinery,“We have lost 5 million pounds, so far! God save us”.(Ahram). The residents of port city of Suez in north eastern Egypt experienced more moments of fear after a new oil depot, the fifth in the past three days, exploded inside the Nasr Oil Company on dawn Tuesday.The resulting blaze set a fire truck on fire and caused the injury of 14 workers. The injured were transported to a number of hopsitals after the incident and are currently undergoing treatment. Following the daily dawn prayers, the mosques in the city were used to call on the residents to keep alert after the flames were reported to have spread approximately 20 metres towards the bay area. The explosions in the storage facilities have so far claimed the lives of two people, a worker and a firefighter, and left dozens injured. It was reported that Tuesday's explosion took place shortly after a crack in the depot became visible to the naked eye. Reacting to the disturbing incident that has engulfed the Suez canal city and kept its residents on edge for days, the Chief of Suez Security Adel Refaat had announced that the situation was under control, as at least 30 fire trucks have been called on to the scene to contain the fire. Head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi sent fire fighting planes on Saturday to take part in the efforts to contain the blaze.Until today, it is not known what initially caused the fire. However, some workers at the refinery reported that they saw a car burning shortly before the first oil tank exploded.
The Nasr Petroleum Company’s president, Kamal Safaan, has called on the government to deploy the military to save the city of Suez.“We have lost 5 million pounds, so far! God save us”, Safaan told Bikyamasr.com The financial losses that have ensued as a result of the explosions have been reported to amount to LE10 million, but could be as high as LE30 million.Read the full story here, more here and here.
