The German group has asked the people living near its site in Ludwigshafen, in the west of Germany, to” avoid staying outside.”
an explosion on a site of a chemist at BASF in Ludwigshafen, in the west of Germany, has left at least two dead and two missing on Monday 17 October in the late morning, according to the authorities and the company. According to the police, they also ” six serious injuries and a number still undetermined wounded light “. Firefighters are among the missing, said the chief of the fire brigade of Ludwigshafen, Peter Friedrich.
in Addition to the land-based emergency, a vessel of firefighters was dispatched to the scene. The causes of the blast have not been determined in the immediate future, has recognized BASF.
What happened ?
” To 11: 30 a.m., there has been an explosion of unknown origin ” in Ludwigshafen, a river port located on the Rhine river, 80 km south of Frankfurt, and the seat of the number one in the world of chemistry, wrote the company on Twitter. the ” The explosion followed by fire occurred during work on a pipeline system “, explained the German group.
The fire broke out in a system of supply tanks of flammable products. The operations of ” steam cracking “, a process used in the chemical industry, have been arrested, ” said the same source. The company has not specified what types of chemicals circulating in the pipeline affected by the explosion.
flames were in the vicinity of large vessels on this industrial space is dominated by a tangled web of pipes and tall chimneys.
fire is it controlled ?
” We hope to contain the fire in the evening “, said a spokesman for the fire department, to the effect that a hundred of them had been deployed. the ” The operation is far from over “, ” said a spokesman for the city hall of Ludwigshafen, the city of the regional State of Rhineland-Palatinate (south-west of the country of 160,000 people.
Is there a risk to the population ?
” We have not determined hazards for the population “, added Mr Liebelt during a press conference. But he called for caution with the local population to ” stay inside the buildings until the fire is out “, people who have their side reported irritation of the respiratory tract.
No evacuation has been ordered, but emergency phone numbers as well as a place of information have been put in place by the German company. On his Twitter account, the city council has indicated that the inhabitants complained of irritation of the respiratory tract. Kindergartens and schools were instructed to keep their students inside, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Are there precedents for BASF ?
The industrial site of Landeshafen nord, where the explosion took place, a treaty, according to the German press agency DPA, approximately 2.6 million tons of gas, and flammable liquids and liquefied petroleum gas each year. This site is an important supplier of materials for the activities of the company, which employs in Ludwigshafen approximately 36 000 people. The group also works in the petrochemical sector as the production of plastics, agricultural products and maintenance.
BASF has not experienced any serious accidents for decades. The drama of the most serious took place in 1921 and in 1948 in the same city of Ludwigshafen. The first saw 585 people die after an explosion in a factory of ammonia, the second has 207 dead and some 3 800 wounded.
No comments:
Post a Comment