The explosion on a Texan crude oil refinery that claimed at least 14 lives and left more than 100 people injured remains a mystery, BP said today.

Terrorism, says the British oil giant, was not the cause of yesterday’s incident at the 470,000 barrel-a-day facility, the third largest in the US. The explosion occurred in a unit that makes components that boost octane in petrol.

“We have no reason to believe this was anything caused by an outside agent,” said Hugh Depland, a company spokesman.

BP’s chief executive, John Browne, travelled to Texas today to meet employees and families affected by the explosion. Company officials and area health officials said that of the 100 hurt, some were in critical condition. There are still some people unaccounted for.

“We have a process to account for everyone working in the plant at the time of the incident, and we are proceeding with that process. This is a major focus at this time,” Don Parus, BP’s refinery manager, said on the company’s website.

This latest incident took place just a year after another blast at the same refinery. On March 30 2004, a large explosion and fire occurred, but there were no casualties.
Full Article: guardian.co.uk

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