A large-scale fire that destroyed a fuel depo at Lebanon’s Zahrani oil facility has been controlled, the country’s energy minister, Walid Fayyad, said from the site of the fire.
The Energy Minister also tweeted through the prime minister’s office, saying: “The fire has been contained.”
Previously, Fayyad told an international news agency that an army fuel tank was on fire. After reaching the Zahrani oil facility, the minister told reporters he was not sure what caused the fire and whether it was intentional or not.
“We need to wait for the results of the investigation, and we have to be ready to take all the necessary steps based on the results… The priority now is the people’s safety,” he stated.
A local news agency earlier said that “a huge fire broke out in one of the tanks at the Zahrani facilities containing petrol.” The same news outlet later reported that the cause of the fire is not yet known.
At least 25 fire trucks were dispatched to the oil facility as firefighters put out the fire while cooling down surrounding tanks to prevent the blaze from spreading to other sections of the facility.
A spokesperson for the facility told an international news agency: “We are now focusing on clearing residents from the area as we try to put out the fire,” the official said. “The priority now is to prevent the fire from reaching other tanks.”
