Fire at oil plant in western Japan forces 3,000 people to evacuate

A fire broke out at an oil refinery in western Japan on Sunday, forcing nearly 3,000 local residents to evacuate, local media reported.

The fire broke out at about 4 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) at TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. refinery in Arita city in western Wakayama prefecture. So far no casualties have been reported.

The fire generated large amounts of smoke over the area. At least 2,986 local residents of 1,281 households were urged to evacuate.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

With a capacity to process around 132,000 barrels of crude per day, the refinery produces gasoline, kerosene and benzene.