ANKARA, July 26 (AFP) - A fire at an oil refinery in southern Turkey has been extinguished and the facility is out of danger, local officials said on Monday.
The blaze at the ATAS refinery in the Mediterranean province of Mersin erupted on Sunday in a storage tank containing 9,000 tons of naphtha, an intermediate petroleum product between gasoline and benzine.
Dozens of firefighters battled the flames for hours before bringing the fire under control. Officials decided Sunday to let the naphtha inside the tank burn out.
"The danger is over. All the naphta has burned out. There is nothing to fear," acting Mersin governor, Resat Ozdemir, told Anatolia news agency.
Judicial authorities launched an investigation into the incident, whose cause remained unclear.