7 injured in fire at oil refinery in Russia’s Omsk region

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least seven people were injured in Russia’s Omsk region on Monday, following a fire that erupted at a local oil refinery.

“The plant's automatic safety system has detected a fire in process equipment. The automated fire extinguishing systems and the fire service are responding to quickly contain the fire,” the plant said in a statement, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

The plant further said that the facility is operating normally, while the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s regional headquarters also told TASS that the preliminary area of the fire is 1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet).

“At the moment, the work of the fire brigades continues. According to updated data, seven people were hospitalized as a result of the incident,” Omsk Governor Vitaly Khotsenko wrote on Telegram.

Khotsenko said the condition of one of those injured has been assessed as serious.

Local authorities have not yet commented on the reasons behind the fire at the plant, which is owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Omsk is situated about 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) from the Ukraine border.