Five fuel tanks exploded at a major oil facility in Malaysia's southern Johor state after being struck by lightning, officials said yesterday.

"The fire is still blazing, but we're working to prevent it from spreading," a district official from the Fire and Rescue Department told AFP . "Five tanks exploded after they caught on fire," he added.

The national Bernama news agency quoted officials as saying that no casualties were reported in the incident at the Petronas fuel depot at the Pasir Gudang port, which involved tanks holding petrol and natural gas.

Fire fighting teams from factories located at the port as well as the Johor Port Authority were also rushed to the scene, district Fire and Rescue Department officer Ismail Abdullah told the state agency.

Situation still dangerous

Ismail said the fire had been contained but that the situation was still dangerous because the depot had dozens more tanks containing petrol and gas.

Pasir Gudang Port Authority chairman Halim Sulaiman said the fire was believed to have been caused by a lightning bolt.

"The operation of the port was not affected and continued as usual," he told Bernama.

However, he said authorities temporarily halted pumping oil and gas from the depot to ships as a safety precaution.