Prose:Rido Refinery News Article

Calamity Mitigation deployed to Hellas City after hyporine explosion near the Central Mars Spaceport

The President of Central Mars, Rodrigues Zahn, has issued a statement after reports of a massive explosion at a Smike Oilfields refinery near the Central Mars Spaceport, which destroyed the plant and its surroundings and severely damaged launch infrastructure on the eastern side of the spaceport. Over 1,200 refinery workers and approximately 400 spaceport personnel are missing and presumed deceased. A Calamity Mitigation fireteam earlier made a striking appearance on scene before being rapidly withdrawn, and it is understood that personnel from both Reality Control and the Industrial Exophysics Regulatory Commission are on site.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident today at Rido Refinery. Search and rescue operations remain underway, and we urge all residents to remain well clear of the disaster zone and comply quickly if instructed to evacuate. The appropriate regulatory authorities are fully involved and every effort is being made to determine the cause of the incident,” stated President Zahn at a press conference earlier this evening.

Raven's Disaster Response Section Chief for Mars, Daniel Schmidt, also made a statement to the press.

"The large hyporine detonation earlier today resulted in a large amount of localised manifold distortion, or Warp, culminating in the visual anomalies widely publicised after the blast. The deployment of Calamity Mitigation forces to the site was a precautionary measure to ensure the stability of surrounding areas and to rule out a more serious incident. Thankfully, we believe no permanent manifold damage to have occurred. At this time, we are not treating the incident as malicious, however, we are keeping an open mind as we continue our investigation. We are working with the IERC to ensure all responsible parties are held accountable."

Paradigm, the parent company of Smike, has been contacted, but declined to comment.