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Fire breaks out at distillation unit in Syria’s Homs refinery

Syrian firefighter try to extinguish a fire at Homs refinery, west of the country, on May 9, 2021. (Photo by SANA)

Syrian firefighters are working to extinguish a blaze that broke out at a distillation unit of the main oil refinery in the western city of Homs, with no reports of casualties in the incident.

The Directorate of Homs refinery, in a statement published by official news agency SANA, announced that the fire erupted on Sunday morning due to a leak in a pumping station.

Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Bassam Tomeh said the fire broke out at distillation unit 100 of the refinery, emphasizing that it was largely brought under control.

Brigadier General Hassan Ammar, the commander of the Homs fire brigade, said the fire was under control, and cooling operations were in process.

Syrian firefighters extinguish a fire at Homs refinery, west of the country, on May 9, 2021. (Photo by SANA)

He added that there are no human casualties in the incident.

State television showed live footage of fire engulfing parts of the refinery with black smoke plumes in the distance as firefighters tackled the flames.

Syrian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at Homs refinery. (Photo by SANA)

Back on January 19, Syrian civil defense teams extinguished a huge fire that swept a number of oil tankers loading crude oil from an installation near Homs refinery.

SANA reported at the time that an explosion had earlier hit a state crude oil transportation company in the city and oil tankers loading crude oil from the installation then caught fire.

Homs refinery and two gas units came under a rocket attack on December 21, 2019. Syrian oil officials called it a “terrorist attack” which caused minor damage but disrupted production.

Homs refinery alongside Banias cover most domestic demand for diesel, heating fuel, gasoline and other products, industry experts say.


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