At least 14 people have been confirmed dead following yesterday's powerful explosion at a BP oil refinery in the United States.
Yesterday's blast at the giant 470,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) facility, the third-largest in the United States, was isolated to a unit used to upgrade the quality of gasoline, with the rest of the refinery operating normally, BP said.
The explosion, whose cause remains unknown, was felt for miles around. BP does not suspect a terrorist attack had caused the blast at the sprawling 1,200-acre facility.
BP officials said at least 100 people were injured and that some were in critical condition.
A spokesman said more than 70 of the injured had been working in the refinery. The others were outside the complex and hurt by flying glass and falling ceiling tiles.
US oil prices reached an all-time high above $1.60 (€1.23) a gallon as dealers feared a cut in supplies from the plant, which produces about 3 per cent of the nation's gasoline.
The explosion came almost a year to the day after another blast and fire rocked the refinery and chemical complex. On March 30th, 2004, a large explosion and fire occurred in a gasoline-making unit but there were no injuries.
That 2004 accident resulted in citations for 14 alleged violations from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.