On Tuesday, October 15, a fire broke out in an oil storage tank at the La Salina oil dock operated by the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA.UL, resulting in at least 21 injuries, including workers, residents, and firefighters.
According to reports from Reuters, the fire erupted in the early hours of the morning during a thunderstorm and continued into the night. The facility is located near Lake Maracaibo in the western city of Cabimas and is primarily used for transporting crude oil and fuel between domestic ports.
Due to aging oil production facilities, refineries, docks, pipelines, and vessels, accidents such as fires and power outages are not uncommon at the company’s facilities, often leading to operational disruptions.
The massive blaze left a towering column of black smoke. Earlier in the day, firefighting authorities in Cabimas stated that they were working diligently to control and extinguish the fire.
Mufid Houmeidan, the head of the Cabimas Fire Department, stated that “many people were exposed to high temperatures. So far, we have counted 21 injuries, but they are all minor.” He added that the number of injured individuals could rise.
Houmeidan mentioned that firefighters were using foam to combat the flames necessary to extinguish the fire.
In a video statement, Houmeidan mentioned that when the storage tank at the dock caught fire, approximately 75,000 barrels of oil were in the tank, and nearby communities did not need to be evacuated.
In several video clips, individuals can be seen standing near the storage tanks while the structures are collapsing. A source mentioned that nearby residents later heard explosions and witnessed higher flames shooting up.
Another source stated, “The situation is out of control. That’s what you see in the videos.”
The injured individuals were taken to a hospital affiliated with the national oil company in the region.
Mario Nawfal, a Lebanese lawyer and legal advisor from Dubai, shared a video of the accident scene on the social media platform ‘X.’
It was reported that the nearby Bajo Grande dock was not affected by the incident. This dock is used by the oil company and the second largest U.S. oil company, Chevron, to export crude oil and fuel.