Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

An explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkey on November 5 left at least 12 employees slightly injured, the company said.

A fire at the facility was quickly brought under control.

The Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, TUPRAS, said a fire broke out at its facilities in Izmit, in Kocaeli province, during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s emergency teams responded immediately to the incident.

The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations.

The company said the unit where the incident occurred “was deactivated in a controlled manner” and that other operations at the refinery were “continuing as normal.”

Earlier, Tahir Buyukakin, the mayor for Kocaeli said the blast occurred during a drill. The fire was quickly brought under control by the company’s own crews and no request for help was made, he said.