Puerto Rican fire fighters
backed by National Guard troops on Friday fought to put out a massive fire
triggered by an explosion that ripped through an oil storage and refinery site
outside the capital San Juan.
The blast and blaze at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp facility, a major supplier of oil products including gasoline in the U.S. Caribbean island territory, sent up a huge plume of black smoke over the seaside capital.
Authorities closed schools in the San Juan metropolitan area and evacuated around 350 people in the Catano neighborhood closest to the location of the fire, one of the biggest in the island's history.
Two people were reported hurt when the explosion rocked the surrounding area early in the morning, shattering windows in some buildings and setting off a huge blaze, whose flames and smoke could be seen from miles around.
The fire destroyed 11 of the Bayamon oil facility's 40 storage tanks, which contained products such as jet fuel, bunker fuel and gasoline.
Puerto Rican authorities temporarily froze prices of gasoline and other oil products to prevent price gouging, but ruled out any risk of serious shortages.
Puerto Rico Gas Retailers Association head, Hector Gierbolini said he expected Gulf stations would have supply problems, but other retailers should have available fuel.
Sherman Wildman of WOSO Radio in Puerto Rico said authorities still don't know what caused the fire.
The blast and blaze at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp facility, a major supplier of oil products including gasoline in the U.S. Caribbean island territory, sent up a huge plume of black smoke over the seaside capital.
Authorities closed schools in the San Juan metropolitan area and evacuated around 350 people in the Catano neighborhood closest to the location of the fire, one of the biggest in the island's history.
Two people were reported hurt when the explosion rocked the surrounding area early in the morning, shattering windows in some buildings and setting off a huge blaze, whose flames and smoke could be seen from miles around.
The fire destroyed 11 of the Bayamon oil facility's 40 storage tanks, which contained products such as jet fuel, bunker fuel and gasoline.
Puerto Rican authorities temporarily froze prices of gasoline and other oil products to prevent price gouging, but ruled out any risk of serious shortages.
Puerto Rico Gas Retailers Association head, Hector Gierbolini said he expected Gulf stations would have supply problems, but other retailers should have available fuel.
Sherman Wildman of WOSO Radio in Puerto Rico said authorities still don't know what caused the fire.
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