New tank burns at Venezuela refinery; death toll revised down

A third oil tank has burst into flames at Venezuela's Amuay oil refinery while another has been extinguished, officials said.

Meanwhile, the authorities lowered the death toll from Saturday's initial explosion at the refinery to 41 from 48 after receiving duplicate reports of some deaths.

Oil and Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez reported the third tank's ignition on Monday.

On Tuesday, President Hugo Chavez tweeted that one of the first two tanks that had caught fire was no longer burning.

The president had visited the refinery on Sunday to survey the damage.

Speaking to reporters then, he said it was too early to speculate what could have caused the blast, which also injured more than 80 people.

"There was a leak. The gas formed a cloud and it exploded. We must investigate why," Chavez said. He declared three days of mourning.