Two dead in fire at Aramco plant

RIYADH, October 21, 2016 – Two workers were killed and 16 were injured in a fire at the Wasea crude oil plant near Riyadh, Saudi Aramco announced on Twitter on Thursday.

Three of the injured were reportedly in intensive care, Al Riyadh newspaper reported. The company claimed that the damage to the plant was limited.

“The fire is under control. Company’s operations are not impacted,” Aramco tweeted on Thursday.

No explanation for the fire was given by the company, which in a subsequent tweet on Friday dismissed rumors that some of its top executives would be retired early over the incident.

Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is planning an IPO in early 2018 is widely seen as a key component of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plan to diversify its sources of income by 2030.

Last month, a fire at Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil terminal left eight people injured.

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