At least 17 workers were injured, two of whom suffered severe burns, following a powerful explosion at an oil rig operated by the state-run company PDVSA. The incident took place late Sunday at the Colven 02 rig, situated in the Apure state of Venezuela. Viral social media footage captured the intensity of the accident, showing massive yellow flames and thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. In response to the emergency, several of the injured personnel were rushed to the nearby town of Guasdualito, while others were transported across the border to Colombia to receive specialized medical treatment.

This tragic event highlights the ongoing instability within Venezuela’s oil sector, where frequent fires and operational outages have become common due to the country’s aging infrastructure. The explosion at the Colven 02 rig follows another fatal incident involving a worker at a gas processing plant in Lake Maracaibo just last month. PDVSA has yet to issue a formal statement regarding the latest accident. Meanwhile, the company remains under significant pressure as it struggles to restore operations at its El Palito refinery, which was recently impacted by a series of earthquakes that hampered production.