Durban - Three people were injured in a massive fire in a pipeline at the Sapref oil refinery.
In another blaze, at the Cato Ridge 1-Stop between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, a petrol tanker exploded and caused two nearby vehicles to burn out. No one was injured in this incident.
According to Cindy Govender, Sapref communications manager, the first fire, at the refinery, broke out at around 9.30pm on Friday. Its point of origin was a pipeline along the Umlaas canal adjacent to the refinery.
“The on-site Sapref emergency team responded immediately and the fire was extinguished within two hours,” Govender said.
She confirmed that three people had been injured and were receiving medical care in hospital, but she could not provide further details. The Sunday Tribune has established that all three injured people were taken to St Augustine’s Hospital in Glenwood.
The refinery was still on line and production had not been affected. The necessary authorities have been informed,” Govender added.
She said that there had been no need to evacuate residents from neighbouring suburbs because the fire was confined to a relatively small area.
“At this stage it is too early to advise regarding the cause of the fire or the extent of damage to infrastructure, as investigations are currently under way,” Govender said.
Chris Botha, spokesman for Netcare 911, confirmed that paramedics had been called to the scene of the fire, but said he was unable to provide any details because the Sapref refinery, the largest crude oil processing facility in the country, “is a national key point area”.
Netcare 911 responded to another massive blaze, at Cato Ridge on Saturday.
“We got the call at around 10.34am to say that a fuel tanker carrying around 40 000 litres of fuel had exploded and two other vehicles had caught alight,” Botha said.
“Fortunately the tanker was parked at the rear of the petrol station, a distance of a few hundred metres from the fuel pumps.”
Chitra Bodasing, ER24 spokeswoman, said authorities were investigating the cause of the explosion.
Sunday Tribune