In Minyeh, on the coastal road, a large fire spreads thick black smoke over the neighborhood. (Credit: Michel Hallak)
BEIRUT — A fire broke out in a pipeline crossing on the coastal road to Minyeh in North Lebanon due to an oil leak, reported our correspondent. The fire spread to the surrounding area, reaching farm tents and other Syrian refugee camps. Thick black smoke covered the area.
With the help of oil teams from Tripoli, firefighters from Minyeh's Civil Defense were mobilized to extinguish the blaze, which caused no casualties.
According to our correspondent, the network of this disused pipeline is suffering from the wear and tear of time. It is regularly attacked by gangs trying to seize oil residues for their personal needs or resale. Oil also regularly leaks into irrigation canals and spreads to nearby agricultural fields.
These pipelines, formerly belonging to the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), cross Lebanese territory from the Lebanese-Syrian border, through the Akkar plain and the town of Minyeh, to the Beddawi oil installations north of Tripoli.
Pumping of crude oil from Iraq has been interrupted since the mid-1970s, due to the Lebanese civil war. Refining at the Beddawi station was also halted.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.