President denies warning systems failed at oil refinery

The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has denied claims that an early warning system at the country’s Amuary oil refinery failed prior to Saturday’s deadly explosion.

There were 41 fatalities after three tanks exploded at Venezuela’s largest refinery. A further 80 people are still be treated for major injuries.

Over 200 homes close to the 645,000 barrel per day site have also been damaged by the shockwave, while puddles of petroleum mixed with water have left roads covered in the area.

Amongst the victims from Saturday’s blast were 18 national guard troops and 15 civilians while six remain unidentified.

President Chavez visited the site on Sunday and said that the death toll could rise further because many of those in hospital are in a critical condition.

Residents have said that there was a strong smell of gas in the days leading up to the explosion, indicating that the oil refinery’s complex warning system had failed.

Chavez, though, as refused to accept this suggestion.

“It is completely automatised and it has thousands of responsible workers here day and night, civilians and military," Chávez said.

"There is no way that there could have been a gas leak during three or four days and that no one did anything."

Mario Theis, who worked at the site as operations manager for more than three decades, said that a smell of gas close to a refinery is normal, particularly on days when there is little wind but this wasn’t one and the first hint of gas should have set sirens off.

The cause of the blast as not been determined as yet but any negligence in terms of safety and maintenance has been denied.

It ranks as one of the most devastating oil accidents in recent years and is almost as bad as the 1997 fire at Hindustan Petroleum’s Visakhapatnam refinery in India, which killed 56 people.