Two people have died after a large fire broke out at British Petroleum refinery on Tuesday night.
The fire broke out at the BP-Husky Toledo Refinery in Oregon, Ohio on Tuesday evening, the company confirmed.
The company first reported two of its employees at the facility were injured. On Wednesday, they confirmed that the two injured employees had died from their injuries.
‘It is with deep sadness we report that two BP staff injured in a fire at the BP-Husky Toledo Refinery have passed away,’ the company stated on Wednesday. ‘Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of these two individuals. All other staff is accounted for and our employee assistance team is on site in Toledo to support our employees impacted by this tragedy.’
The two deceased employees have not yet been identified.
The fire was extinguished on Tuesday night around 10.15pm, the BP confirmed. The plant was shut down and will remain offline through Wednesday.
A source told Reuters that leaking fumes from a crude unit may have ignited the fire in another nearby unit. Workers had also just finished maintenance to the facility just weeks prior to the fire, according to the report..
The fire was captured on dramatic video as bystanders drove by the flaming facility.
The BP-Husky Toledo Refinery produces about 150,800 barrels of oil per day. The company has operated the facility for over 100 years, according to their website.
Major fires at oil refineries have caused death and injuries across the world in the past year.
Last November, a fire at an Exxon-Mobile refinery in Baytown, Texas left four people injured. Authorities believe the fire was started by an explosion.
Earlier this year, an explosion at an illegal oil refinery in Nigeria killed over 100 people.
The victims ‘were burnt beyond recognition,’ a Nigerian government official said after the tragedy at the facility in the Niger River Delta.
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