Blaze in Mohammedia Refinery caused by combination of reasons

The blaze that broke out Thursday in a gasoline tank in the Moroccan major oil refinery SAMIR in Mohammedia (near Casablanca) is due to a combination of reasons, said sources close to the investigation.

Decaying infrastructures, the lack of rigor in surveillance and fire detection, the company's poor means of intervention all contributed to the fire that started after a "correction" operation that was conducted without taking the necessary protection measures, said the source.

The fire left no victims and was soon controlled by Mohammedia fire squads backed with colleagues from Casablanca.

Samir reassured in a release that the incident will not affect domestic market supplies by Morocco's major refinery and that toxic smokes emanating from the fire will not impact the health of people living in the refinery vicinity.

This is the second blaze that breaks out in the refinery in nine months.