Incident Report

Subject:                  Fire at Kyrgyz Petroleum Depot kills 5   

Date of Email report:   Thu 29/12/2011

Report Detail:

Wednesday, December 28, 2011 - A fire at a petroleum depot in northern Kyrgyzstan killed five people and injured one on Wednesday, according to local media at the scene. The explosion took place at the Kainda-Oil oil depot in the Chui province, in the town of Panfilov, the Bishkek-based 24.kg news agency reported. Four cars – including two fire trucks – were also destroyed in the explosion, which officials have determined to have been started by a fire.

A tanker truck and a drilling machine are also reported to be lost in the fire. The oil depot was out of operation for the past few years, the Kyrgyz emergencies ministry said. “An investigative team is conducting interviews of witnesses and examination of the scene to investigate the circumstances of the incident,” the KyrTAG news agency reported the interior ministry as saying. Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov ordered the verification of safety systems for all oil storage units in the country, as well as fuel stations.

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