Eight injured in fire at major Iranian oil refinery

State media said the fire was extinguished on Monday evening

A general view of fire suppression at an oil refinery in Bandar Abbas, Iran. West Asia News Agency via Reuters

Eight firefighters have been injured responding to a blaze at an oil refinery in southern Iran, state media said on Monday.

The fire broke out at the Aftab Oil refinery complex, west of the major port city of Bandar Abbas, IRNA reported, but had been put out by early evening.

"Efforts have been started to extinguish the fire, but there is a possibility of flames spreading and nearby reservoirs exploding," the outlet said.

The cause of the blaze is unknown.

Emergency services are at the scene and working to determine casualties and the extent of the damage to the refinery, IRNA added.

Two of the five tanks at the refinery have exploded, according to aerial assessments, an official from Hormozgan University later told IRNA.

The refinery is described as one of Iran's biggest exporters and produces more than 20,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the company's website.

The firefighters were treated for their injuries before being sent back to tackle the inferno.

IRNA shared footage of a large column of black smoke billowing from an industrial compound.

Industrial accidents are common in Iran. In September last year, a furnace burst at a refinery in the country's south-west, leading to an explosion.

That followed a series of similar incidents in 2021, including a large fire at an refinery in southern Tehran in June, which raged for two days after a storage tank containing 20,000 barrels of petrol caught alight.

A month prior, one person was killed in a pipeline explosion near the Gulf coast, and nine died in a blast at a plant producing explosive materials in central Iran.