CARACAS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- An explosion at a natural gas platform on Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela triggered a fire on Friday, injuring six workers, state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) confirmed.

In a statement, PDVSA said the incident occurred at a plant in the waters of Lake Maracaibo in Zulia state, triggering the activation of industrial safety emergency protocols, including the evacuation of personnel and the deployment of firefighting and rescue teams.

The injured workers were taken to the hospital for treatment, while the fire was later extinguished, it said.

PDVSA said it has set up a technical committee to investigate the cause of the explosion, and stressed that the incident would not affect oil and gas production in western Venezuela. ■