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Iran to Release Report on Bouali Sina Complex Fire

Iran to Release Report on Bouali Sina Complex Fire
Iran to Release Report on Bouali Sina Complex Fire

A report on the investigation into the cause of a massive fire that broke out in one of Iran’s major petrochemical plants this month will be released soon, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Wednesday.

“The report on the fire in Bouali Sina Petrochemical Complex will be published in the near future after further examinations,” Zanganeh was quoted as saying by his ministry’s Shana news agency.

On July 6, fire broke out at the petrochemical complex in the southern city of Bandar Mahshahr in Khuzestan Province in what was described as the largest incident in Iran’s oil and gas industry in recent memory.

Firefighting crews extinguished the huge fire after three days of arduous battle with the blaze. There were fatalities but nine injuries were reported.

According to initial reports, the conflagration was triggered by leak of paraxylene, a highly flammable fuel. Shortly after the fire had died down, Zanganeh ruled out assumptions that the incident was a result of sabotage or a terrorist plot.

Later it was said that the fire was initially contained but a second fire erupted at one of the complex’s main storage units.

Loads of fuel from the unit were removed to contain the second fire, as firefighters sprayed foam on the unit’s surface to cool the facility and prevent it from melting or exploding.

Zanganeh said members of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company—Bouali Sina complex’s parent company—and the health, safety and environment department of the Oil Ministry have received a full briefing of the incident.

Some estimates at the time the fire was burning suggested the damages may exceed $200 million, but the state-owned Iran Insurance Company placed the damage at $66 million.

 

Financialtribune.com