Firefighters tackle huge blaze at Syria refinery

Firefighters tackle huge blaze at Syria refinery
Firefighters extinguished a blaze Sunday in a distillation unit at one of Syria’s two oil refineries.
1 min read
The fire rages [Getty]


Firefighters extinguished a blaze Sunday in a distillation unit at one of Syria’s two oil refineries, Syrian state TV reported.

No one was hurt, but the fire caused some damage to the facility, a refinery official said.

The TV named the cause of the fire as crude oil leakage from one of the pumping stations at the Homs Oil Refinery in the central province of Homs.

The fire came amid a series of mysterious attacks on vessels and oil facilities in Syria over the past months. The war-torn country has been suffering from fuel shortage in recent months.

Read more: Syria Insight: Assad begins his re-election campaign

Head of Homs Oil Refinery Suleiman Mohammed told state TV that the distillation unit that caught fire is one of four at the refinery.

In addition to the refinery in Homs, Syria has another one near the coastal town of Banias. Both are government-run and operating.

Syria’s oil resources are mostly outside of government controlled areas.

Syria controls some small oil and gas fields in the country’s center but most of the country’s large fields in the east are controlled by US-backed Kurdish-led fighters.

This has made Damascus reliant on Iran for fuel.

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