Four foreign employees killed in Saudi refinery fire

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: State-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, said Saturday that four of its foreign employees died in a fire this week at the Ras Tanura terminal on the country’s east coast.

The company’s Web site carried a statement which said the four included two Filipinos, an Indian and a Sri Lankan worker. Also, 12 other employees were injured in the blaze, including one Saudi national.

The blaze at Ras Tanura oil terminal, off the Dhahran district on the kingdom’s eastern coast, broke out 9:30 a.m. local time Thursday but was brought under control within an hour, Aramco said.

Aramco’s statement said the incident did not interrupt the facility’s crude oil or product operations, adding that the company and Saudi authorities are investigating the fire.

Thursday’s blaze was Aramco’s second incident in less than a year. Last September, a fire at another oil refinery on Saudi’s eastern cost killed one worker.

AP