Huge Explosion In The Gulf Of Mexico (Video)

A huge explosion rocked Venezuela’s biggest oil refinery early on Saturday – killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 80 others in the worst disaster in memory for the country’s key oil industry.

Balls of fire rose over the Amuay refinery, one of the largest in the world, and lit up the night sky as firefighters struggled to contain the burning blaze.

The explosion shattered walls of nearby shops, ripped out windows from homes and left the surrounding streets covered with rubble and twisted scraps of metal.

At least 86 people were injured, nine of them seriously, the country’s health minister said at a hospital where the injured were taken.

She said 77 people suffered light injuries and were released.

Flames reaching nearly 100 feet into the air still crackled almost 20 hours after the explosion – giving off searing heat felt by the residents of a neighbourhood approximately 1,000 feet away.

Earlier, a spokesman for emergency services in the nearby city of Ciudad del Carmen said authorities had registered 45 people with injuries due to the fire.

The platform forms part of the Abkatun-Pol-Chuc offshore complex. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, production at the complex has fallen steadily since the 1990s to below 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2013.

Mexico currently produces just under 2.3 million bpd.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the fire in the Gulf, which is home to Mexico’s biggest oil field.