A hospital in the northeastern state of Anzoategui, Venezuela, has been evacuated following an explosion and a fire that engulfed an oil refinery located nearby, local media have reported.

The IVSS Hospital, located near the Guaraguao oil refinery, which is operated by PDVSA (Petroleum of Venezuela), suffered an explosion which led to a huge fire visible from miles around, the El Tiempo newspaper reported.

Видео опубликовано JovenesEnAccion (@jovenesenaccionanaco) Окт 30 2016 в 12:18 PDT

The patients were transferred to other healthcare institutions and an unspecified number of residents were evacuated to safe areas.

There has so far been no official version of what caused the explosion. An investigation into the incident has been ordered, a general manager of the refinery said, according to the Globovision news outlet.

Фото опубликовано Dany CosmoValencia (@danycosmovalencia) Окт 30 2016 в 12:02 PDT

A number of photos showing a plume of black smoke have emerged on social media.

Explota tanque de PDVSA en Guaraguao. Todo se hunde como Sodoma y Gomorra pic.twitter.com/jbQVHXaAZe — CarlosRaulHernandez (@CarlosRaulHer) October 30, 2016

“Firefighters are trying to cool down cisterns so that they wouldn’t catch fire,” one Twitter user reported.

Explosión cerca se sede principal de refinación oriente en #Guaraguao q#Plc - #Venezuela Фото опубликовано AnunciosPuerto🌴 (@anunciospuerto) Окт 30 2016 в 10:14 PDT

Según el reporte de nuestro fotógrafo @josemoraleslp, los pacientes del hospital César Rodríguez de Guaraguao #PLC se encuentran en un punto seguro. Aquí una de sus gráficas, tras el incendio de tanque en #Guaraguao Фото опубликовано EL TIEMPO (@diario_eltiempo) Окт 30 2016 в 11:02 PDT

There have been no reports of casualties or damage to the oil infrastructure.

Regional authorities have already been notified and have asked local residents to keep calm, according to PDVSA’s official Twitter account.