In an early Thursday morning, a blast at Astron Energy’s 100,000 bpd Milnerton refinery in Cape Town, South Africa, killed two workers and injured seven others.
The fire started at about 4 AM local time (2 AM GMT) and the plant was shut down after the incident.
The plant had just undergone extended maintenance and was just restarting. Previously, the refinery had completed a ZAR400 million (USD23 million) overhaul to produce low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO).
Astron Energy CEO Jonathan Molapo said that the company will do a full investigation of the incident. He added that there was no immediate threat to fuel supplies nor the surrounding communities.
This incident came at a crucial time for the country as it had just started reopening after a coronavirus lockdown.
