By Mariela Nava and Mircely Guanipa
MARACAIBO (Reuters) -At least 21 people, including workers, neighbors and firefighters, were injured on Tuesday in a fire at a crude oil storage tank at Venezuela’s La Salina oil terminal operated by state-owned PDVSA, authorities said.
The fire broke out early in the day during a storm and raged throughout the evening. The facility, which PDVSA uses primarily to transport crude oil and fuel between domestic ports, is located near the western city of Cabimas on the shore of Lake Maracaibo.
“Many people were exposed to high temperatures. We have counted 21 injured so far, all with minor injuries,” the head of the Cabimas firefighters, Mufid Houmeidan, told Reuters, adding that the number could increase.
PDVSA did not respond to a request for comment.
Fires, power outages and other incidents are common at PDVSA’s facilities due to the deterioration of oil production sites, refineries, terminals, pipelines and ships. They often disrupt business operations.
Firefighters from Cabimas said earlier on Tuesday they were working to control and smother the fireballs, which left behind a tall plume of black smoke.
Firefighters were running out of foam to extinguish these types of oil-related fires, Houmeidan was quoted by local media.
The tank held about 75,000 barrels of oil when the fire broke out in the terminal’s storage patio, Houmeidan said in a video early Tuesday, adding that nearby communities did not need to be evacuated.
Several videos show the tank’s structure collapsing as people stood close to it. Neighbors later heard an explosion, a source close to the operations said, followed by a larger column of fire.
“There was talk of boiling over,” said another source. “You can see that in the videos.”
According to the sources, the injured were taken to a PDVSA hospital in the area.
The nearby Bajo Grande terminal, used by PDVSA and a US manufacturer Chevron (NYSE:) to export crude oil and fuel was unaffected by the incident, sources close to operations said.
