Massive Leak Nearly Destroys a City, Hundreds Killed

Brazil was once struck by a tragedy involving an explosion triggered by a leaking oil pipeline. The explosion nearly destroyed an entire city in Brazil.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency archive, the explosion occurred in Cubatão, São Paulo, Brazil. It was triggered by a leak from a pipeline in 1984.

The explosion took place in the early hours of 25 February 1984. The blast site was near a slum settlement called Vila Socó, which at the time was inhabited by around 8,000 people.

The disaster began with a major leak in an 18-inch diameter pipeline. The leak caused around 700,000 litres of petrol to spill into the surrounding residential area.

Local residents had actually been aware of the petrol leak for at least two hours before the first flames appeared, but they did not immediately flee to safety.

Some residents were even reported to have collected and stockpiled the spilt petrol inside their own homes. The fire began to rage in the early hours and lasted for nearly 10 hours before it was finally extinguished.

The blaze destroyed an area of 100,000 square metres, equivalent to almost 75% of the total Vila Socó settlement area. Nearly an entire city was destroyed by the explosion.

Rescue teams found 67 bodies in the rubble of homes, almost all of them so badly burned that they could no longer be identified. The death toll reached 508 people, while 200 others suffered serious injuries as a result of the incident.

The string of tragic accidents such as the one in Cubatão became one of the main reasons for Brazil to strengthen its oil industry safety regulations, including the passage of Law 9966 in 2000, which governs the prevention and control of pollution caused by oil in national waters.