pemex oil fire 2023
© Samy Rodriguez/Perfil Regional/via REUTERSEmergency services work as smoke rises following a pipeline explosion at the facilities of state-owned oil company Pemex, according to local authorities, in Ixhuatlan del Sureste, Veracruz state, Mexico, February 23, 2023 in this still image taken from video obtained from social media.
Three fires broke out on Thursday at different facilities in Mexico and the United States operated by state-owned Mexican oil company Pemex, leaving five missing and eight others injured as of Thursday evening.

Five people were unaccounted for after a fire at a storage facility in the state of Veracruz that had sent three others to a hospital, the company said in a statement.

The cause of that fire, which had been put out, had not yet been determined, the company added.

Pemex confirmed in a later statement on Thursday evening that a separate fire at its Minatitlan refinery, also in Veracruz, was under control after injuring five people.

That fire had not interrupted the refinery's operations, Pemex said, adding that "it is presumed that the possible cause of the fire was product runoff on a hot surface."

A third fire was also reported Thursday by a community alert at a unit at Pemex's Deer Park, Texas, oil refinery. It later updated with an all-clear notification.

Earlier this week, at least two people died after a vehicle collision inside a Pemex refinery in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, according to local media reports.