An explosion occurred at around 3.00pm on Tuesday 19th November at a refinery in Antwerp. The explosion resulted in the deaths of two contractor employees, working for French oil company, Total. No more are reported missing, said Total’s Production Director, Stanny Serrien.
The tragedy occurred while maintenance work was being carried out on a steam generation system in a gasoline production unit. No fires resulted from the explosion, and according to Total the situation is now under control.
Following the explosion the refinery’s emergency plan was activated resulting in the evacuation of the facilities and the shut down of part of the plant. The company has said that the blast occurred in the steam system of a unit producing petrol.