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Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Friday in Vaslui that the situation after the blast at the Petromidia Refinery is under control and that "the lives of the people were not endangered."
Citu said that he had a discussion with senior emergency management official Raed Arafat immediately after the event, whom he asked to go to the scene of the blast, saying that he will not travel personally to the area because "there is no need to."
"I had a discussion with Mr Arafat, immediately after the explosion; I asked him to go there. (...) I only knew that there was an explosion, when I spoke to him I did not have details, but it seems that there was a problem with a pipe. (...) I don't need to go to the scene anymore; the situation is under control now. What is more important is to know that the lives of the citizens have never been in danger," said Citu.
The prime minister said that the people who sustained burns in the explosion were transferred to Bucharest and for the time being they will be treated in Romania, and it will be established if anything else is needed.
Citu emphasised that at this moment "there is no danger in the area".
He was in Vaslui, on Friday, where he participated in the local county conference of the National Liberal Party (PNL).
A Red Intervention Plan was activated on Friday after an explosion followed by fire occurred at the Petromidia Refinery in Navodari, as the locals were alerted by RO-ALERT message about large smoke emissions.
Rompetrol Refinery Director General Felix Crudu-Tesloveanu said that the fire at Petromidia occurred at the gasoline hydrofining installation and the ensuing blast generated three more outbreaks, with the probable cause being a cracked pipe. He added that the fire broke out on a platform where there is various industrial equipment, with five people having worked in the area when that happened. Four of them were injured and one was found dead.
