Fire breaks out at PETRONAS refinery in Johor

KOTA TINGGI: A fire broke out at a PETRONAS oil refinery here, which led to an explosion at 3.24pm on Thursday (Oct 27).

In a statement, PETRONAS Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn Bhd (PRPC) said the fire broke out at one of the interconnecting pipes located in the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

"Our emergency response team has been mobilised to contain the incident and all relevant authorities have been informed,'' said the statement.

The fire was totally extinguished at 4.50pm.

There were no casualties reported and there was no immediate threat to surrounding communities.

The Johor Fire and Rescue Department operations centre said the operation to put out the blaze involved seven firemen from Sungai Rengit and another seven from Sebana Cove fire stations.

"One fire rapid tender vehicle, one foam tender and a fire rapid vehicle were used in the operation," said operations commander Masri Ibrahim.

Videos of the fire went viral on social media, showing black thick smoke billowing from the site and workers running for safety.