Blaze at Peroni beer plant

| Sat, 07/26/2008 - 03:10

A fire broke out at a Peroni beer plant in Bari Friday after two tanks exploded.

The blaze sent plumes of black smoke billowing over nearby houses and an evacuation was briefly scheduled.

But in the the end only two workers and two firemen were treated for smoke inhalation.

The plant is one of three operated in Italy by the famed Italian beer company, which was taken over by world No.2 SABMiller of South Africa in 2005.

The other two are in Rome and Padua. Its Naples works was closed down shortly before the SABMiller deal went through.

The Bari factory employs some 200 workers but only 140 were in the plant at the time of the blaze.

Peroni is Italy's oldest beer maker, founded by Francesco Peroni in Vigevano, Lombardy, in 1846.

It is now headquartered in Rome.

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