Venezuela in mourning as probe into gas blast goes on

Venezuelans who live next to the country’s biggest oil refinery said they smelled a strong sulphurous odour hours before a gas leak ignited in an explosion that killed at least 39 people and injured more than 80.

The Amuay refinery was still burning yesterday more than a day after the blast, sending up a thick column of black smoke.

Residents in a district next to the refinery said that starting about 7pm on Friday they noticed the unusually strong odour. Government officials said the blast occurred about 1:15 am on Saturday when the gas leak created a cloud that ignited.

The cause of the disaster is under investigation.

Gabriela Nunez, a housewife who lives near the refinery, said she noticed the gas smell on Friday night and then hours later came the shock wave.

“All the windows shattered, the iron doors opened, the wooden doors broke,” Ms Nunez said. She returned to her home on Saturday night to gather belongings, saying she was worried about looters.

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 18 of the victims were National Guard soldiers.

President Hugo Chavez on Saturday declared three days of mourning in the country. “This affects all of us,” Mr Chavez said by phone on state television. “It’s very sad, very painful.”

Shopkeeper Yolimar Romero said she was at her computer when a shock wave swept over the area.

“At that instant, the whole house shook as if it were an earthquake,” she said. “The windows went flying off with their frames and everything.”

Oil minister Rafael Ramirez said a panel of investigators had being formed to determine the cause of the gas leak.

While the cause of the disaster remains unclear, some oil workers and critics of Mr Chavez’s government have recently pointed to increasing numbers of smaller accidents and spills as an indication of problems within the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.

“We warned that something was going to happen, a catastrophic event,” said Ivan Freites, secretary general of a 1,200-member union of oil and natural gas industry workers in Falcon state where the refinery is located.

The refinery complex’s general manager, Jesus Luongo, denied that a lack of maintenance was to blame.

Amuay is part of the Paraguana refinery complex, which also includes the adjacent Cardon refinery. Together, the two refineries process about 900,000 barrels of crude per day and 200,000 barrels of petrol. Venezuela is a major supplier of oil to the US and a member of OPEC.

One opposition group comprised of former PDVSA employees, Gente del Petroleo, or Oil People, said it could not yet pass judgment on the cause of the explosion.

But it noted there had been ample concerns about lack of maintenance and poor management.

The group said in a statement that since 2003, 79 other serious accidents have been reported at the Paraguana refinery complex, collectively killing a total of 19 workers and injuring 67 others.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said: “We Venezuelans are one, and we grow in the face of this type of situations.”