New explosion video at Venezuelan oil refinery

Vice President Elias Jaua said on his Twitter account that the blast caused serious damage.

"There are wounded people," Jaua said in one message. "We're deploying air ambulances."

The military was also deployed to the area, and the defence minister was traveling to the refinery along with Ramirez and other top officials, Jaua said.

Video! Blast at Venezuela oil refinery kills 24

An explosion at Venezuela’s biggest refinery early Saturday killed at least 24 people and injured more than 50 others in the deadliest disaster in years for the country’s crucial oil industry.

Balls of fire rose over the Amuay refinery, one of the largest in the world, in video posted on the Internet by residents who were nearby at the time.

Those killed included a 10-year-old boy, and at least 53 people were wounded, the governor of Falcon State, Stella Lugo, said on state television. She said firefighters had controlled the flames at the refinery, on the Paraguana Peninsula in western Venezuela, where large clouds of smoke were rising.