Texas oil refinery leak leaves two dead and 30 hospitalized as investigation launched

Two people are dead and 30 were hospitalized after a chemical leak at a Houston-area oil refinery, officials said.

The workers, who were employees of a subcontractor performing maintenance work at the facility, died after hydrogen sulfide leaked at the plant. The plant is operated by Pemex, Mexico 's state-owned oil company, and is located in the suburb of Deer Park in Houston .

Pemex Director Victor Rodriguez said the workers "were in the zone directly affected, and who received the direct impact of the gas." Their bodies have been recovered.

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Around 30 others were either transported to hospitals or treated at the scene. The leak happened during work on a flange at the facility. Pemex said investigations were underway and that operations are "proactively halted".

The leak set off urgent warnings for nearby residents to stay indoors before authorities later determined that the public was not in danger. A shelter-in-place order was lifted soon after as air monitoring showed no risk to the surrounding community.

Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said: "Other than the smell, we have not had any verifiable air monitoring to support that anything got outside the facility." Hydrogen sulfide is a foul-smelling gas that can be toxic at high levels.