An explosion and fire at a fuel depot owned by energy major Eni near Florence, Italy, killed on Monday morning at least two people and injured another nine, while three people are still unaccounted for.
At least three of the injured are in critical condition, Italian officials say.
The fuel depot at Calenzano, just northwest of Florence, receives, stores, and ships out gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The explosion occurred in an area where trucks were refueling in a loading shelter. The explosion and fire have not affected the storage tanks, Eni says.
The fuels are shipped to the Calenzano site via two pipelines connected to the refinery in Livorno, also operated by Italian oil and gas major Eni. Livorno is a port city on the west coast of the region of Tuscany, where Florence is also located.
Emergency services continue search efforts for the missing people. Fire engines and firefighters have managed to contain the fire and prevented it from spreading to the storage tanks, said Eugenio Giani, the governor of the Tuscany region in central Italy.
It is not clear yet what caused the explosion, Italian media report.
Due to the fire and the high smoke column, traffic on the A1 main north-south highway in Italy was disrupted in the area of Florence and Bologna. Train traffic between Florence and Prato has been suspended.
The incident prompted Italy’s Civil Protection Department to issue a message to residents via the It-Alert messaging system for the first time, advising them to stay indoors and avoid the area near the explosion.
The municipalities of Calenzano, Campi Bisenzio, and Sesto Fiorentino have recommended that residents keep their windows closed.
Tuscany’s regional environmental protection agency is currently evaluating the pollution from the explosion, including possible effects on water resources, the region’s governor Giani posted on social media.
Source: By Charles Kennedy from Oilprice.com