Fire contained at Iran’s petchem complex in Khuzestan
Firefighters have managed to extinguish a raging fire at Iran’s Bu Ali Sina petrochemical complex in the country’s southwestern province of Khuzestan.
The blaze was completely contained in the early hours of Saturday, almost three days after it started from an explosion in a key tower of the plant, the tallest in the Middle East.
Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh, who on Thursday night travelled to the site of the blaze at the industrial zone of Mahshahr, thanked all the “genuine efforts” made by the firefighting teams for the "national" operation and “the difficult task” of putting out the blaze.
Firefighting teams from Khuzestan and neighboring provinces fought the blaze and managed to prevent it from spreading to the nearby tanks at the plant.
It is still not clear what exactly caused the incident, but the minister on Friday ruled out sabotage and said the fire erupted due to technical issues.
“Unfortunately, certain neighboring countries have expressed joy following the [eruption] of the blaze,” he said, adding, “A Muslim country shall not rejoice at the harm done to another Muslim country and shall [rather] express sadness.”
There have also been conflicting reports on the number of casualties. Some reports initially said several people had been killed in the incident while others said there had been no casualties.
Zangeneh denied rumors that the city of Mahshahr had been evacuated, saying he was stationed at a distance of 200 meters from the blaze and to supervise the efforts of professional firefighting teams.
Mahshahr Special Economic Zone is a key industrial zone on the southern shores of Khuzestan, where a chain of petrochemical plants is situated.
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