MOSCOW (MRC) -- A fire triggered by an explosion at a Shell chemical plant in styrene monomer (SM)/propylene oxide (PO) plant (MSPO-2) at Moerdijk in the Netherlands has been brought under control, said BBC.
Fire crews managed to extinguish the blaze in the early hours of Wednesday, officials say. Two people suffered minor burns, but the cause of the blast - heard from more than 30km (20 miles) away - remains unknown.
A spokesman for Shell told that the factory was in operation 24 hours a day but that all personnel who were on site at the time had been accounted for.
The mayor of Moerdijk, Jan Klijs, said there appeared to have been a leak of benzene, but it was not yet known whether it was methylbenzene or ethylbenzene. Local media quoted residents as saying the ground "shook like an earthquake".
The local authority announced on Wednesday morning that the fire had been extinguished. It withdrew earlier advice for people living nearby to keep windows and doors closed.
The factory makes oil-based chemicals for use in products that range from car components to insulation materials.
The Shell complex was also hit by a serious fire in 2012.
Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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