No casualties or deaths have been recorded.
In a statement a spokesman for the fire brigade said, “We have isolated the fire and are letting the oil trapped inside [the desulphurisation unit] burn. We are [also] pouring water and chemical agents to cool the unit to prevent the blaze from spreading.”
According to Nippon spokesman Ichiro Yamamoto, “The fire broke out at a unit that extracts sulphur from heavy oil, and the company shut down the rest of the refinery so that the blaze would not spread to other areas.”
“The plant’s entire output of 190,000 barrels per day has been halted [but] the firm [is] continuing to ship 200,000 barrels per day of oil. It [is still] unclear what impact the fire [will] have [on Nippon],” he added.
