UPDATE 1-Syria's oil minister says production unit in Banias refinery damaged in explosion

An explosion took place in one of the production units of Syria's Banias refinery near the Mediterranean coast during maintenance operations, Syria's oil minister said on Thursday.

One worker was killed and an engineer was injured in the refinery, one of the largest in Syria, Ali Ghanem was quoted on state television as saying. A report on state-owned Ikhbariyah television station earlier said the explosion took place during the welding of one of the tanks at the refinery.

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