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France reinforces security for industrial sensitive sites after petrochemical fire

Xinhua, July 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has ordered reinforced security in sensitive industrial sites after suspected fire broke out at a chemical plant in southern France, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

In a note sent to prefects on Tuesday, Cazeneuve asked for high vigilance "in the coming days" in industrial plants, mainly those listed Seveso which contained dangerous chemical products.

The French minister also urged "a thorough inspection of all these facilities, to check their fences and the proper functioning of their video surveillance systems," it added.

On Tuesday, simultaneous explosions rocked he LyonDellBasell oil refinery in the town of Berre l'Etang after "two tanks, 500 meters apart from each other and filled with chemicals, are affected".

The fire came after a suspected Islamist beheaded his boss last month and tried to blow up an industrial gas plant in Isere, southeast France.

After the "terror attack", French government raised the anti-terrorism plan to its maximum level in the southeastern towns and sent additional security forces to protect industrial sites. Endit