Oil refinery explosion shakes Saint John
By The Canadian Press
Headlines NewsOct. 9, 2018, Saint John, N.B. - Irving Oil says all their employees and contractors have been accounted for after a massive oil refinery explosion that shook the historic port city Monday and sent flames and plumes of black smoke into the air.
Saint John Regional Hospital was treating two patients from the explosion, the local health authority confirmed Monday afternoon.
“Several contractors are being treated for non-life threatening injuries in relation to this incident,” Irving said in a tweet.
Residents described feeling an explosion shortly after 10 a.m. AT, and said flames and smoke could be seen from a great distance from the refinery, on the city’s east side.
“We felt our house shake,” Saint John resident Aimee Boyde shared with the Star. “It’s about 10 minutes from where we live and we are waiting to see if we get evacuation orders.”
Boyde says she’s still afraid because she has four kids, pets, and has waited almost two hours to see if they still need to be evacuated.
“Irving oil is a big place, both roads out of red head end up beside Irving,” she added.
One worker at the refinery, who didn’t want to be identified, said the blast had been enough to knock him down.
“There was quite a shockwave when the blast happened,” he said as he left with co-workers hours later.
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