Explosion at Texas refinery kills 14, injures more than 100

There are no reviewed versions of this page, so it may not have been checked for adherence to standards.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Explosion at Texas refinery

A huge explosion at the third-largest oil refinery in the United States killed at least 14 workers and injured more than 100 others at about 1:30 p.m. local time (19:30 UTC) on Wednesday, in Texas City, Texas.

The blast caused extensive damage to the BP facility, left a large crater in the ground, and flung chunks of burnt metal onto cars and trucks in the employee parking lot. Windows and lights shattered in homes and other buildings miles from the blast location. A massive cloud of black smoke hovered over the sky.

"It was real scary," refinery worker Charles Gregory told the Associated Press. "Have you ever hear the thunder real loud? It was like 10 times that," he said.

Authorities do not suspect that the explosion was caused by terrorism, but have not yet determined the cause of the blast. Federal investigators have been sent to the site, according to Daniel Horowitz, the director of public affairs for the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

"We have no reason to believe this was anything caused by an outside agent," said BP spokesman Hugh Depland.

The 1,200-acre facility employs 1,800 workers, and outputs three percent of the oil supply for the United States (almost half a million barrels a day). The western side of the facility directly affected by the blast makes high-grade fuel.

Firefighters worked for over two hours to fight blazes caused by the explosion.

Company officials have not yet announced how long production will be suspended at the refinery. Gasoline futures began trading higher at an all-time peak of $1.60 a gallon during after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but retreated to $1.58 later in the evening.

"It's a sad day for BP," said site director Don Parus.

Texas City last suffered a major accident in April 1947, when a ship filled with ammonium nitrate exploded, killing about a third of the town's population, and injuring about 5,000 others.

Sources

Sam Jones. "14 die in US oil refinery blast" — Guardian Unlimited, March 24, 2004

Pam Easton, AP. "At Least 14 Dead in Texas Refinery Blast" — ABC News (US), March 23, 2004

AP. "Tragedy Often Touches Town Near Refinery" — SFGate, March 23, 2004

"Oil refinery explosion kills 14" — CNN, March 23, 2004

"BP Says Death Toll 14 in Texas Plant Explosion" — Reuters, March 23, 2004

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.