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Terrorism discounted in Texas blast

TEXAS CITY, Texas, March 25 (UPI) -- Federal investigators say there is no evidence of terrorism in the deadly BP refinery explosion in Texas, but it may take a year to determine the cause.

Fifteen contract workers were killed in Wednesday's explosion at the sprawling 1,200-acre plant in Texas City and at least eight workers remain in critical condition in a Galveston hospital, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.

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Lord John Browne, the British oil company's chief executive officer, arrived at the plant Thursday to assure the "full resources of BP will be used to help the bereaved, the injured and all others affected by the explosion."

Federal investigators said it may take a year to pin down the exact cause of the blast that erupted as workers attempted to restart the refinery's isomerization unit after a two-week shutdown for maintenance.

FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials discounted reported claims the explosion had been the work of Islamic terrorists.

"There's no evidence to suggest there is any outside group involved in (Wednesday's) explosion," said FBI spokesman Al Tribble. "There's no criminal investigation as it pertains to terrorism at this time."

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