Fire at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery in Kuwait under control

Agencies | Dubai

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A fire broke out at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery in Kuwait on Monday morning is now under control, state-run news agency KUNA has reported.

Kuwait National Petroleum Company earlier said in a tweet that fire broke out in one of the facility’s atmospheric residue desulphurization (ARD) units.

“The firefighting teams in the refinery are currently dealing with the fire, knowing that no injuries occurred as a result of the accident,” KNPC earlier said in a tweet.

A number of minor injuries and cases of suffocation as a result of inhalation of fumes occurred among the contractor’s workers, the company said.

First aid was provided to the injured on the site and all of them are in good condition, and other injured were transferred to Al-Adan Hospital and their condition is stable, it added.

“ARD Unit No. 42 and all lines leading to it have been isolated and the refinery’s fire brigade is still dealing with the accident,” KNPC said.

“The refinery and export operations were not affected, and the local marketing and supply operations of the Ministry of Electricity and Water were not affected by the fire.”

The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, on a 10.5 square-kilometer site, began operating in 1949. It is the largest of three refineries of the state petrol company, producing about 466,000 barrels of petrol per day.

A fourth refinery with a production capacity of 615,000 barrels per day is under construction and set to begin operation by the end of the year.

The oil-rich Gulf emirate produces about 2.4 million barrels of petrol per day, most of which is exported.