Petrochemical plant fire in Saudi kills 12

TWELVE WORKERS have been killed and a further 11 have been injured after a fire broke out at the United Petrochemical Company plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, reports SPA, the state news agency.

The incident occurred when technicians of the maintenance contractor were replacing catalysts in the plant during routine maintenance.

The fire started at approximately 11:40 local time on 16 April. Although SPA reports say the fire was small and extinguished within ten minutes by fire fighters and the Civil Defence, heavy smoke inflicted suffocation, or severe smoke inhalation injuries upon workers.

Abdul Rahman Al-Abdulqadir, spokesman for the Royal Commission, described the condition of the injured as “fighting for life”.

Adel Al-Shiraidi, president of United Petrochemical Co, and Muslih Al-Otaibi, CEO of the Royal Commission, visited the accident scene and ordered maximum care for the injured.

United is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp (SABIC).

The Chemical Engineer pressed SABIC for further updates on the incident. At time of writing, however, no response has been received.