Shutdown at South African refinery brought forward after worker's death

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - A planned shutdown at South Africa's largest refinery, the SAPREF plant co-owned by Shell and BP, will be brought forward to this week after a worker died in hospital following a flash fire, a spokeswoman said on Sunday. The worker, one of three hospitalised after a pipeline fire erupted at the 172,000 barrel a day plant on Friday night, succumbed to his wounds on Sunday. Two others remain in a stable condition, spokeswoman Cindy Govender said. "In the wake of the incident the SAPREF refinery will bring forward a planned site shutdown to this week," she said in a statement, adding that investigations are under way to ascertain the extent of the damage to infrastructure and the cause of the fire.