The blast at the plant in the northern town of Brod, on the border with Croatia, occurred today around 9:30 pm (1930 GMT), RTRS television reported.
The cause of the explosion at Bosnia’s sole oil refinery, which sparked a fire, was not immediately known. The injured workers were hospitalized, he said, but he could not elaborate on their number or the severity of their injuries. / AFP PHOTO
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFP) — An explosion at a Russian-owned oil refinery in Bosnia killed one worker and injured 10 more, police and hospital spokesmen said Wednesday.
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik visited Bosnia’s sole oil refinery in the northern town of Brod and said the blast, which occurred late Tuesday and sparked a fire, was an “unfortunate accident.”
He praised the refinery’s workers for having behaved in a “particularly responsible way.”
“They closed gas valves and risked their lives to prevent a larger fire.”
The fire was contained around midnight (2200 GMT) Tuesday.
A police spokeswoman said the blast killed one worker and injured nine.
“Six of the injured were hospitalized but their lives are not endangered,” spokeswoman Dragana Kekez told AFP.
A hospital in the nearby Doboj later put the number of injured at 10.
The Russian state-controlled Zarubezneft oil company holds a majority stake in the Brod refinery which employs around 900 people.
It can handle up to 1.2 million tonnes of crude oil per year.
© Agence France-Presse