Aramco fire death toll hits 40

The final death toll from a gas pipeline fire in Saudi Arabia on Sunday was 40, Saudi Aramco said on Tuesday.

Officials had earlier said 28 people had died and 12 were missing after the fire that was caused by a gas leak near the Hawiyah natural gas liquids plant, which was extinguished. The dead included 18 Pakistanis, seven Indians, seven Bangladeshis, six Saudis, one Nepali and one South African, state oil company Aramco said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

Five of the six Saudi victims were employees of Aramco and the remaining 35 from a contracting company, it added.

One Western diplomat said the fire appeared to have been an accident rather than an act of sabotage.

Aramco is undertaking projects to boost output at the natural gas liquids recovery plant in Hawiyah.

The Hawiyah programme will produce 310,000 barrels of ethane and NGL products by 2008, through the plant and an expansion of the Juaymah gas fractionation plant near Ras Tanura.

The project will provide petrochemical feedstock to the industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu in the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter.

Aramco sources have said the fire was unlikely to cause serious delays to the Hawiyah project, as it broke out some distance away.

Japan's JGC was awarded the contract for the Hawiyah NGL and related facilities.

Italian Eni's Snamprogetti is carrying out work related to gas treatment and compression facilities. Contracts for communication and plant infrastructure facilities were signed with local contractors. (Reporting by Souhail Karam)

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READERS' COMMENTS

Saudi Aramco safety
Posted by alan m dransfield, exeter, uk on Wednesday 27 August 2008 at 22:02 UAE time

Hassain
You are absolutely correct, Saudi Aramco don't seem to care for the employees safety, they care about $$$$$$$ only

HAWIYAH EXPLOSION
Posted by alan m dransfield, exeter, uk on Friday 14 March 2008 at 22:27 UAE time

My friend, Saudi Aramco only care about one thing only, i.e. $.
Saudi Aramco safety and environment is brilliant on paper and that's all they care about.

WILL NOT DELAY PROJECT....HOW COMFORTING....NOT!
Posted by Hussain Motabagani, Khobar, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday 21 November 2007 at 17:00 UAE time

as a contracted employee myself i am frustrated by the sentence "Aramco sources have said the fire was unlikely to cause serious delays to the Hawiyah project, as it broke out some distance away." Thats all we are in the end...collateral damage. Our lives don't matter in the end now do they? All that matters is progress and supply and demand. I beleive all those killed should have a memorial and receive praise for the job they were doing. I pay my respects and pass my condolences to the families of those killed by the blast and May Allah have peace on their souls and bless them. In the end i guess no matter how skilled or how efficient we are, were nothing but pawns in the big game of economics.

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