'Minor' Fire Breaks Out at Oil Facility In Southern Iran

Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
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'Minor' Fire Breaks Out at Oil Facility In Southern Iran

Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters
Oil refinery in Iran - File/Reuters

A fire that broke out at an oil export facility in southern Iran was brought under control without causing any damage, according to local media.

"A fire has occurred in an open oil channel leading to the export port in the city of Mahshahr," Fars news agency reported after the Sunday incident.

Thick smoke filled the sky over the port, the agency stated.

Mahshahr is located in Khuzestan, an oil-rich province bordering Iraq.

The Tasnim agency described the fire as "minor", adding that there was no "human or financial loss".

A security manager at the port, quoted by the Rokna news website, said the fire was caused by technical failure in a lighting system near the open channel.

Mahshahr Governor Fereydoun Bandari said "firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to oil tanks at the export port", according to Fars.

The cause of the incident is under investigation, he added.

It occurred following weeks of protests in Iran after the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, three days after her arrest by vice police.

In a separate incident in the same city, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Sunday its forces had killed an "element hostile to the revolution" after an attack on a military base in Mahshahr.

"The forces fired on two terrorists on motorbikes in order to protect the headquarters, killing one of them while steps were taken to identify and arrest the second person," the IRGC said in a statement.

Iran has the world's second largest gas reserves, after Russia, and the world's fourth largest oil reserves, but is under strict US sanctions which have restricted exports and isolated it from the global financial system.



Deadly Türkiye Hotel Fire Sparks Safety Concerns, Political Blame Game

A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Turkey, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Turkey, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
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Deadly Türkiye Hotel Fire Sparks Safety Concerns, Political Blame Game

A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Turkey, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Turkey, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Outrage over alleged safety failures at a 12-storey hotel in Türkiye has escalated into a political clash between the government and the opposition-run local authorities, after a fire killed 79 people and injured more than 50, Reuters reported.

The tragedy sparked calls for accountability and reform, and independent experts have said the Grand Kartal Hotel, at the Kartalkaya ski resort in western Türkiye, lacked basic fire safety measures.

Survivors described chaos as they navigated smoke-filled corridors in darkness. Some said there were no alarms, sprinkler systems or visible fire escapes. Some were forced to leap from windows to escape and several died that way.

Authorities detained 11 people, including the hotel's owner, manager, a deputy mayor of Bolu province, and the head of the local fire department as part of a probe. The hotel's management pledged full cooperation and President Tayyip Erdogan vowed accountability.

Bolu's opposition-run municipality and the national tourism ministry blamed each other for a lack of fire safety measures, with each arguing it was the other's responsibility.

"All these people would not have died if the deficiencies we mentioned in (the fire) inspection had been addressed," Tanju Ozcan, mayor of the nearby Bolu municipality, told broadcaster Halk TV.

Ozcan said the hotel's owners had applied for a fire safety permit in December but withdrew the application after failing to meet eight out of nine required criteria. Instead the hotel, he said, got a substitute safety report from a private auditing company, which is allowed by law.

Ozcan added that due to the ministry's jurisdiction, the municipality could not take further action.

"While the municipality was waiting for the deficiencies to be corrected, the hotel withdrew the request because they did not want to meet these costs and applied to another company. Authorization was given to a company authorized by the ministry," the mayor said.

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the property was inspected in 2021 and 2024 with no safety issues flagged. He said the fire department was responsible for regular inspections and certifications and added that no issues had been reported to date.

Ozcan said his municipality had no jurisdiction over the hotel, which lies outside city boundaries and in a designated tourism area. The municipality's last fire safety certification was dated 2007 and subsequent inspections were the ministry's responsibility, he said.

The tourism ministry said the hotel held a valid fire competence certificate.

The blaze erupted in the early hours of Tuesday at the hotel packed with 238 guests, including families on winter holiday, at the mountaintop facility.

Erol Percin, Bolu representative of the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, called for reform in safety regulations and criticised what he called vague language in current laws.

"Our legislation does not refer to these norms. It is only vaguely stated that 'guest and employee safety must be ensured,'" he said, urging stricter rules.