August 4, 2012 - 16:33 AMT
1 killed, 15 injured in Iran petrochemical plant fire

A fire that broke out at Iran's biggest petrochemical plant killed at least one person and injured 15 others before it was put out, Iranian media reported on Saturday, August 4, according to AFP.

The blaze at the Bandar Imam petrochemical complex, in the southwestern city of Mahshahr, occurred on Friday and was caused by a gas leak in a feeding line, according to the Shana news agency belonging to Iran's oil ministry.

"Unfortunately in this accident, one person was killed," it quoted Qodratollah Nasiri, the security head of Iran's National Petrochemical Co, as saying.

The fire was now extinguished, Nasiri was quoted as saying.

"The processing units at the plant were not damaged... but some of the units are offline."

The plant reportedly produced more than four million tonnes of products last year, including polymers, benzenes, propane gas, butane and fuel oil.