Punto Fijo (Venezuela): After nightfall on Friday, as red lights began glowing atop the massive Amuay refinery in western Venezuela, the odour of sulphur made its way through the surrounding neighbourhood of working-class homes and small shops.
Francisco Gonzalez, a stocky accountant with dark hair, noticed the smell after 7 pm (local time) as he climbed the stairs to his second-story apartment across the street from the refinery. He had smelled the fumes from gas leaks many times before, so he didn`t think much about it as he shut the door.
Six hours later, disaster struck. A powerful explosion ripped through the neighbourhood and engulfed part of the refinery in flames, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 80 in Venezuela`s deadliest refinery blast ever.
"The first thing I saw was that the apartment didn`t have windows or doors or walls, just a floor and a roof," Gonzalez said. "I don`t know how we survived."
In the dark, the 31-year-old man made his way downstairs to the street, where he, his brother and sister-in-law joined terrified neighbours. Some were wounded. Others were shouting. When Gonzalez looked at the back of his right hand, it was bleeding from gashes.
At about 2 am (local time), the halls of the hospital were filling up with wounded people. Doctors and nurses hurried to treat the most seriously hurt, while Gonzalez and others sat on the floor waiting their turn.
Back at the refinery, soldiers, firefighters and state oil company workers were diving into action. Bodies were pulled from the rubble and lifted onto pickup trucks. Stella Lugo, the governor of Falcon state, went on state television to update the nation, setting the initial toll at seven people dead and 48 injured. The toll steadily rose in the next hours.
When she reached the refinery at dawn, Lugo posted a photo on Twitter showing balls of fire and black smoke billowing. Other government officials went on television saying the gas leak had led to the blast and that the fire was being brought under control. President Hugo Chavez ordered an investigation and declared three days of mourning in the country.
A total of 209 homes and 11 businesses were damaged in the explosion, and a National Guard post next to the refinery was destroyed, Vice President Elias Jaua said on Saturday night. He said 18 of the victims were National Guard soldiers. On Saturday night, dozens of people who had fled their homes in the neighbourhood of La Pastora returned to streets covered with rubble, twisted scraps of metal and puddles of spilled fuel.
PTI
