The Tacoa disaster is the deadliest industrial accident in Venezuelan history and the deadliest tank fire ever recorded worldwide.
Key Facts
- Date
- December 19, 1982
- Minimum victims
- 150 people
- Primary cause of deaths
- Massive boilover from an affected fuel oil tank
- Facility
- Ricardo Zuloaga thermal power plant
- Owner
- Electricidad de Caracas
- Deaths in initial explosion
- 2 people
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A fuel oil tank at the Ricardo Zuloaga thermal power plant in Tacoa, Venezuela caught fire. The plant was owned by Electricidad de Caracas and situated in a coastal area of Vargas state. The fire spread to adjacent tanks, creating the conditions for a catastrophic boilover.
On December 19, 1982, a burning fuel oil tank underwent a massive boilover, ejecting superheated oil over a wide area. All but two of the 150 or more victims — including firefighters, journalists, and bystanders — were killed by this boilover. Two people had already died in the initial tank explosion.
The Tacoa disaster became the deadliest industrial accident ever recorded in Venezuela and the deadliest tank fire worldwide. The large number of first-responder and bystander fatalities highlighted the extreme dangers of boilover events and drew attention to industrial safety standards at fuel storage and power generation facilities.