The City of Volta Redonda, in the south of Rio de Janeiro, reported that residents within a 300-meter radius of the Vibra factory (former Petrobras base), where a fuel tank exploded in the early hours of this Sunday (22), were evacuated as a safety measure.
One with the explosion and is admitted to the São João Batista Municipal Hospital, with serious health conditions. Two other people remain missing. The searches continue to be carried out with the support of drones, vessels and specialized teams. The company responsible for the factory is arranging the transportation of relatives of the patient and the missing to Volta Redonda.
118 people from 41 families in Vila Americana were taken to a hotel. The decision to withdraw was made by the Fire Department’s Dangerous Products Operations Group. Residents are leaving as a preventive measure during the transshipment procedure for the alcohol remaining in the affected tank. The product removal operation is carried out using tanker trucks. At least 180 thousand liters have already been removed. Other vehicles are on their way to complete the transfer of approximately 350 thousand liters that were stored at the time of the explosion followed by fire.
The City Hall reported that for safety reasons, the alcohol transshipment operation is being carried out more slowly than initially planned. Rescue teams are waiting for the transshipment to be completed, or at least for the operation to reach a point considered safe, so that the search for the missing can be carried out inside the tank hit by the explosion.
The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) sent a technical team to the municipality and ordered the ban on operations at the base.
The tank involved in the accident has a capacity of 2 million liters of alcohol and, at the time of the incident, contained approximately 350 thousand liters of the product. According to information provided by the company to local authorities, a welding maintenance service was being carried out on site at the time of the accident.
A crisis room was created at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF). The place should be sought out by anyone who needs guidance and has nowhere to go.
