04:25 (GMT+4) Eight workers were injured in a powerful explosion in an oil refinery on Tuesday night in Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) city of Bosanski Brod, located 210 kilometers north of Sarajevo, mayor Ilija Jovicic confirmed to local media, Xinhua reported.
Spokesperson of Police Department Doboj Dragana Kerkez confirmed to local media that police had received a call informing there is an explosion, after which several police teams have been sent to the site.
"Explosion, according to the first information, occurred at the plant for oil refinery," Kerkez said.
Police advised people living in Bosanski Brod and in regions around, not to exit from their houses due to the heavy smoke.
Eight persons were transferred to the emergency department of the local hospital, and they are not severely injured, their lives are not in danger, director of the hospital, Zoran Predojevic, told local media.
Eyewitnesses said that the explosion was so strong that several windows at houses nearby were broken.
Firefighters are trying to stop the spread of fire on the rest of the refinery. If the chain reaction occurs, the refineries will not be saved, and the health of the citizens could be jeopardized.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown.
02:13 (GMT+4) A powerful explosion hit the Brod oil refinery in northern Bosnia near the Croatian border on Tuesday and several workers were injured, police said, Reuters reported.
Police and firefighters are trying to extinguish the blaze after the explosion at around 9.30 p.m. local time (1930 GMT), said police spokeswoman Dragana Kerkez.
“This was a strong explosion and the detonation could be heard in Slavonski Brod,” Kerkez told Reuters, referring to the town just across the Sava river in Croatia.
Brod Mayor Ilija Jovicic said that some of injured workers were hospitalised, the Srna news agency reported.
Photos taken on mobile phones and published on Bosnian web sites showed a fire at the plant.
The Brod refinery is majority-owned by Russian state oil company Zarubezhneft.