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12 workers killed in Saudi factory fire

The blaze broke out during maintenance work at the Jubail United Petrochemical Co in the eastern city of Jubail.

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RIYADH // Twelve workers were killed in a fire at a petrochemicals plant in the eastern Saudi city of Jubail on Saturday, the official Saudi Press Agency (Spa) reported.

The fire, which caused plumes of thick black smoke, broke out during maintenance work at the Jubail United Petrochemical Co, said Abdel Rahman Al Abdel Khader, a spokesman for the Jubail and Yanbu industrial zone.

The victims suffocated from fumes of burning chemicals, he said. Another 11 employees were injured, six of them were in a “serious state”.

*Agence France-Presse, Associated Press

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