After Being Sabotaged, One Oil Refinery in Syria Explodes, a Worker Killed

News24xx.com - A worker was killed in an explosion while working at Syria's biggest oil refinery on Thursday, Syrian state media said.

"A tank exploded at the Banias refinery during welding," the state news agency SANA said.

Oil Minister Ali Ghanem, quoted by SANA, said one other person was injured in the explosion during maintenance work.

This incident was associated with an unnamed foreign entity who "sabotaging" an underwater pipeline to an oil refinery located in the heart of the regime in the Mediterranean Sea. The sabotage has occurred since last June.

Syria's eight-year war has made the Damascus government lose control of the main oil fields, and forced them to import hydrocarbons.

Western sanctions on Syrian oil shipments have made imports difficult to the country.