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Oil tanker explodes off Philippine coast

Thu 11 May 2006

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine coastguard said on Thursday an oil tanker had exploded off the coast of Bataan province, west of Manila.

George de Jesus, a member of the Philippine coastguard, told Reuters rescue operations were underway.

Radio reports said two crew members were critically injured. There were no immediate reports of fatalities or the cause of the explosion.

The Philippines' largest oil refiner, Petron Corp, has a 180,000 barrels per day oil refinery at Limay on the southern tip of Bataan. No one from the company was immediately available for comment.

The Philippine Department of Energy was checking reports of the explosion.

posted by ... @ 7:10 PM