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An explosion has rocked an oil refinery in Texas, killing at least four
people, according to local TV reports.
Witnesses said the BP plant in Texas City was shaken by loud, powerful
explosions with vast flames.
Television pictures showed firefighters picking through the smoking
wreckage, as emergency services warned people living nearby to stay
indoors.
US gasoline prices jumped to as word of the
explosion hit financial markets, reaching $1.604 (￡0.8589) per gallon
.
BP spokesman Hugh Depland did not give an official casualty figure, but
confirmed that some people had died in the blast.
The explosion happened at 1330 at the western end of the
plant, which covers an area of almost 500 hectares.
The Texas City refinery, 35 miles from Houston, is the third
biggest in the US, employing 2,000 people.
I've never seen flames that high from anything. They were bright
orange, with yellow on the side.
It processes roughly 450,000 barrels of crude oil each day.
That figure is approximately 3% of the US' domestic oil supply and
one-third of BP's output across the US.
In a statement, BP said: "Company and area emergency crews are
responding and working to get the situation under control.
"BP can confirm the incident has caused multiple injuries and that one
person has been life-flighted from the scene. Plant officials have not
confirmed any fatalities," it said.
Texas City resident Mike Martin described "a real loud explosion, like
a sonic boom".
"It shook the pictures bad enough to where it knocked them off the
wall. And it frightened me, so I jumped out of bed."
Judith Mantell, 62, told the Houston Chronicle that the blast lifted
her vehicle off the ground at her home five miles (8km) away.
"I've never seen flames that high from anything. They were bright
orange, with yellow on the side," she said.
(BBC) | 
Updated: 2005-03-24 08:54
