Fire Damages German Oil Refinery

BERLIN (AP) -- An explosion and fire damaged one of Germany's largest oil refineries Friday, but no one was injured and the blaze was quickly brought under control, police said.

The fire, which broke out at about 11:15 a.m. and at the MiRo refinery outside of the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, was being investigated as an accident, police said.

``We are 99 percent certain that a technical defect or human error was responsible,'' said police spokesman Juergen Schoefer.

MiRo estimated the damage, which included the collapse of a 180 meter (600 foot) chimney, to be in the ``double digit millions.''

Production levels were not expected to be affected, however.

The refinery produces one out of every five liters (gallons) of oil products used in Germany, police said.