Twelve people were killed and 11 others injured in a fire that broke out on Saturday at a petrochemical factory in eastern Saudi Arabia, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The spokesperson of Royal Authority of Jubail district said that the fire occurred at 11:40 a.m. local time (0840 GMT) during routine maintenance.

He attributed the casualties to suffocation because of smoke inhalation.

The Saudi civil defense and fire fighters managed to extinguish the fire after 10 minutes. The spokesperson added that further details will be announced later.

Source: XINHUA