Smoke rises from the New American Oil (NAO) refinery in Plaza Huincul, Neuquen province, Argentina,Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. An explosion caused a major fire this morning at the NAO refinery, killing several people the town’s mayor said. (Fernando Ranni/Diario Rio Negro via AP)

Three dead in an explosion and fire at an Argentine oil refinery, fire brigade intervention

By Cristiano Antonino Last updated Sep 23, 2022

At least three people died in an explosion that triggered a fire at an oil refinery in southern Argentina, local authorities said on Thursday

The explosion in Argentina at the refinery owned by company New American Oil

The explosion occurred in the city of Plaza Huincul, about 1,200 kilometres south of Buenos Aires, and hit ‘one of the main crude oil tanks’, Mayor Gustavo Suarez told radio station LU5.

The explosion occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning and the ensuing fire destroyed six trucks, Suarez said.

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Argentina, firefighters are working to prevent the flames “spreading to other adjacent tanks to prevent them from exploding”

“At this stage, it has been established that there are three dead,” Suarez said, without commenting on whether there are any other injured or missing.

By midday, the fire in one part of the refinery was ‘more than 70 per cent extinguished’, said fire chief Jose Acuna.

The local government said that nearby schools had been evacuated.

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The provinces of Rio Negro, Neuquen and La Pampa are home to several refineries.

Local government officials and directors of major oil companies have called an emergency meeting for today.