The higher toll was announced by Falcon state Gov. Stella Lugo in remarks to the Venezuelan radio station Union Radio. Officials have said scores of people were injured.

Residents in a neighborhood next to the refinery say they had no warning before the explosion hit at about 1 a.m. on Saturday.

"What bothers us is that there was no sign of an alarm. I would have liked for an alarm to have gone off or something," said Luis Suarez, a bank employee in the neighborhood. "Many of us woke up thinking it was an earthquake."

The blast knocked down walls, shattered windows and left streets littered with rubble.

People who live next to the refinery said they smelled strong fumes coming from the refinery starting between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, hours before the blast, but many said they weren't worried because they had smelled such odors before.

Then, a cloud of gas ignited in an area of fuel storage tanks and exploded. Some of the tanks were still burning on Monday, billowing black smoke.

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